The Role of Economic Regulators in the Green Transition

Annex B. Green governance survey structure

 

Primary questions	Available responses	Secondary questions	Sub-categories	Available responses
Is there a piece of legislation that includes objective(s) for the regulator relating to the environmental sustainability of the sector?	Yes, statutory objective(s) for the regulator are defined in the regulator’s establishing legislation Yes, objective(s) for the regulator are defined in a piece of legislation other than the establishing legislation Yes, objective(s) for the regulator are defined both in the regulator’s establishing legislation and in another piece of legislation No, but the regulator needs to adhere to certain overarching objectives for public institutions relating to the environmental sustainability of the sector that have been defined in legislation or the constitution No, no objectives have been defined
Regardless of the existence of statutory objective(s), does the regulator have the legal power to include any considerations regarding environmental sustainability in its regulatory decision making?	Yes No	If so, for what categories of decision making? (Select any that apply)	Regulating prices Issuing or revoking licenses or authorisations Issuing industry standards Providing binding guidance or reviewing and/or approving contract terms between regulated actors and/or market actors Issuing guidelines and/or codes of conduct Other, please specify		Yes No (Plus qualitative free response)
		If so, to which aspect(s) of environmental sustainability do these legal powers relate? (Select any that apply)	Decarbonisation Circular economy Resource management Greenhouse gas reduction Biodiversity Water and air pollution Waste management Other, please specify		Yes No (Plus qualitative free response)
		If the regulator has the legal power to consider environmental sustainability in the context of its regulatory decision making, are there any policy objectives for which the regulator encountered or anticipates any trade-offs between the respective policy objective and pursuing environmental sustainability objectives? (Select any that apply and elaborate on these trade-offs in the comment column)	Policy objective(s) related to promoting competition Policy objective(s) related to improving cost effectiveness Policy objective(s) related to protecting consumer welfare or social inclusion Other policy objective(s), please specify		Yes No (Plus qualitative free response)
Does the regulator have the legal power to collect relevant data on the environmental sustainability of the sector (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions, etc.) to inform its regulatory decision making?	Yes, and the regular collects such data regularly Yes, and the regulator collects such data on an ad hoc basis (e.g. for thematic/one-off publications) Yes, but the regulator does not systematically collect such data No
Are there any formalised co-ordination mechanisms to address issues related to environmental sustainability between the regulator and ministries in charge of environmental policy or authorities in charge of environmental protection?	Yes No
Does your organisation recruit any staff with expertise in areas related to the environmental sustainability of the sector, in support of the delivery of its functions?	Yes, the regulator already recruited such staff in the past five years No, but the regulator is planning to hire such staff for the future No, the regulator is not planning to hire such staff, but makes use of external professionals or academia on environmental sustainability No, the regulator does not plan to hire such staff nor makes use of external professionals
Does the regulator send a specific request to environmental civil society organisations (CSOs) to invite them to participate in consultation processes by the regulator?	Yes, for all consultation processes, the regulator sends a specific request to environmental CSOs to invite them to participate Yes, for some consultation processes, the regulator sends a specific request to environmental CSOs to invite them to participate No specific request is made, but environmental CSOs are able to participate as part of an open call for comments to all stakeholders No, environmental CSOs are not invited to participate (in case the regulator does not organise an open call for comments)
If there are quantitative targets for the sector defined in legislation in terms of environmental sustainability, does the regulator consider these quantitative targets as part of its regulatory decision-making process?	Yes No Not applicable (no such quantitative targets)
Is the regulator required to assess (ex ante or ex post) the impact of the regulatory framework (or specific regulatory decisions issued by the regulator) on furthering environmental sustainability objectives?	Yes No