Why the Commission evaluates
The Commission evaluates if specific laws, policies and spending activities are fit for purpose and have delivered, at minimum cost, the desired changes to European businesses and citizens.
The evaluation findings help the Commission decide whether EU actions should be continued or changed.
Better regulation: why and how
REFIT - Making EU law simpler and less costly
Evaluation or fitness check
An evaluation assesses a specific EU law, policy or funding programme for:
- effectiveness (whether the EU action reached its objectives)
- efficiency (what are the costs and benefits)
- relevance (whether it responds to stakeholders' needs)
- coherence (how well it works with other actions)
- EU added value (what are the benefits of acting at EU level)
A fitness check is a type of evaluation that assesses several related actions. It focuses on identifying how different laws, policies and programmes interact, any inconsistencies or synergies, and their collective impact.
Upcoming evaluations
These are communicated to the public via evaluation roadmaps, and are planned on a multi-annual basis.
How to contribute
Anyone can provide feedback on plans for evaluations and fitness checks and participate in public consultations on ongoing evaluations.
Ensuring quality
The better regulation guidelines and accompanying toolbox (2015) provide common standards for quality when the Commission evaluates the performance of its actions.
Better regulation guidelines – Guidelines on evaluation: chapter 6
Better regulation toolbox – Evaluations and fitness checks: chapter 6
The Regulatory Scrutiny Board examines and issues opinions on the quality of major evaluations and fitness checks.
Evaluation results
The main findings of evaluations are summarised in staff working documents, which are published on EUR-Lex.
EUR-Lex
Other evaluations can be found in the EU bookshop. These include evaluation reports prepared for the Commission by external contractors and reports evaluating programmes and policies internally.
EU bookshop
All studies planned or already conducted on behalf of the EU institutions and bodies can be found in the Inter-institutional Database of Studies.