Checklist for assessing legislation on practicability and enforceability

In order to encourage policymakers, legislators and stakeholders to devote more attention to likely problems of practicability in implementation and enforceability throughout the legislative process, with a view to anticipating and remedying practicability and enforceability problems through a pro-active approach, IMPEL initiated a project aimed at producing a practical checklist to assess the practicability and enforceability of existing and new legislation with the aim of improving the overall implementation of EU environmental law in the Member States.

IMPEL developed its own checklist in 2006 however this was superseded by work carried out in 2010 in conjunction with the Heads of EPA’s network.

The checklist is designed to enable actors and stakeholders in the legislative and implementation process to assess EU environmental legislation (and associated national legislation and implementation efforts) on various aspects of practicability and enforceability, both ex ante and ex post. A list of questions is contained in this report –it can be used as a checklist, an aide-mémoire or as a questionnaire depending on the needs and interests of the user.