Across Europe, successive economic and geopolitical shocks ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to the energy crisis have shown the relevance of ensuring that policymaking is underpinned by strong, interdisciplinary evidence, improving the quality of public policies and strengthening citizens’ trust in national governments. Furthermore, as policymakers increasingly face broad, complex policy issues ranging from the green and digital transitions to the consolidation of public finances, the need for high-quality, well-informed policies and regulations is all the more crucial. While evidence is often abundant, ensuring it is effectively used at the right time and in the right format remains a constant challenge. Against this backdrop, governments are increasingly turning their attention to the underlying governance challenges, including structures, skills and incentives, as well as the quality of interaction with science and academia, that allow evidence and expertise to effectively inform policy choices.
This synthesis report takes a broad multidisciplinary “ecosystem” approach to the analysis of evidence-informed policymaking (EIPM) in seven European countries as part of a multi-country project funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, and implemented by the OECD, in co-operation with the European Commission Joint Research Centre. The seven countries are Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands. The analysis was jointly conducted by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and OECD, through multiple consultations with beneficiary authorities in each of the seven countries. The project also included several interactive workshops and mutual-learning exercises, allowing collaboration peer learning among the participating countries.
The report presents the findings of the project, identifies main lessons that can be drawn, and explores possibilities for further developing EIPM ecosystems. It draws on the country-specific analysis developed for each of the seven countries, considering supply and demand of evidence as well as the interface at which they meet. It considers various angles within and across public administrations, including the individual, organisational, inter-organisational and systemic levels. The report identifies the need to value diversity and allow frequent interactions with academia as a prerequisite for a healthy evidence-to-policy ecosystem. It also underlines the need for institutional co-ordination mechanisms, leadership, and an enabling culture and feedback mechanisms, along with adequate capacity in terms of skills and training. This can help ensure that evidence-informed advice is considered at the centre of decision making and foster a culture where the production and uptake of evidence is recognised, valued and rewarded across the whole policymaking cycle. While each national context is unique, the report’s findings represent a breakthrough in this area that can be useful for the broader international community.