Review of Impact Assessment Systems in selected OECD countries
Johanna Ferretti
Anna-Lena Guske
Most, if not all OECD countries have introduced requirements for the ex-ante Impact Assessment (IA) of planned legislationduring the past two decades. Originally, they focused on regulations and on their costs for business. Since then, many countries have reformed their approaches and extended the scope to a wider range of policies and including other thematic aspects including impacts on the environment, social aspects, administrative burden, etc. There is, however, no uniform approach in the requirements and processes for Impact Assessment.
In particular, the OECD Member Countries vary considerably regarding the integration of concerns of sustainable development in their requirements for IA. The study focuses on this aspect of Impact Assessment and will provide an overview on the different approaches to institutionalize sustainable development requirements in IA. Besides, it will be discussed how the IA systems are embedded in the different political systems and contexts.
The study will review the following countries regarding the consideration of aspects of sustainable development within their requirements for Impact Assessment:
- Austria
- Australia
- Korea
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- United States
In addition, the approach of the European Union will be analyzed.