Sustainability Impact Assessments

The Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) is a DG Trade-specific tool for supporting major trade negotiations. SIAs provide the Commission with an in-depth analysis of the potential economic, social, human rights, and environmental impacts of ongoing trade negotiations.

These assessments are an opportunity for stakeholders in both the EU and in the partner countries to share their views with negotiators.

SIAs have several purposes, including:

+ feeding information into and helping steer the negotiations
+ assessing the changes that are likely to be caused by a trade agreement
+ helping to identify possible trade-offs
+ ensuring that the related policy choices are optimised

SIAs contribute to sound, evidence-based and transparent trade negotiations.

University of Manchester: Institute for Development Policy and Management: Sustainability Impact Assessment ofProposed WTO Multilateral Trade Negotiations http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2006/september/tradoc_127300.pdf

OECD: Sustainability impact assessment: an introduction (OECD, 2010) http://www.oecd.org/greengrowth/48305527.pdf

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