Archive:Sustainable development - good governance

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Data from July 2015. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Database.

This article provides an overview of statistical data on sustainable development in the area of good governance. It is based on the set of sustainable development indicators the European Union (EU) agreed upon for monitoring its sustainable development strategy. This article is part of a set of statistical articles for monitoring sustainable development, which are based on the Eurostat publication 'Sustainable development in the European Union - 2015 monitoring report of the EU sustainable development strategy'. The report is published every two years and provides an overview of progress towards the goals and objectives set in the EU sustainable development strategy.

Table 1 summarises the state of affairs in the area of good governance. Quantitative rules, applied consistently across indicators and visualised through weather symbols, provide a relative assessment of whether Europe is moving in the right direction and at a sufficient pace, given the objectives and targets defined in the strategy.

Table 1: Evaluation of changes in the good governance theme (EU-28)

Overview of the main changes

The trends observed in the good governance theme since 2000 have been mixed. Short-term trends — considering the last five years — are often similar to the long-term overview. Favourable trends have been registered for new infringement cases and to the transposition deficit of EU law with respect to Single Market rules. In addition citizens continue to increasingly interact with public authorities over the internet. Some unfavourable trends, however, persist. Voter turnout in national parliamentary elections continues to decline, and a general shift from labour to environmental taxes, as called for in the EU Sustainable Development Strategy and more recently in the Europe 2020 strategy, has not been achieved.

Key trends in good governance

Low trust in EU institutions, but positive trends in policy coherence

Citizens’ confidence in EU institutions remains generally low. Data for 2013 signalled the lowest levels for the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Central Bank. In 2014, trust in both the European Parliament and the European Commission registered a slight increase. The European Parliament continues to be the most trusted among the main EU institutions. Favourable trends can be observed regarding policy coherence and effectiveness, both in the long term and the short term. The number of Single Market-related open infringement cases registered a drop of 38 % in the EU between 2007 and 2014. Most of this drop occurred in the short term between 2009 and 2014. Transport, environmental issues, and taxation account for more than half of total infringement cases by policy sector. Moreover, the EU has remained below its target for transposition deficit of Single Market rules. The long-term trend of transposition deficit of EU law is clearly favourable: since 2000 the transposition deficit has been more than halved with a 2.5 percentage point drop until 2014. In the last five years, the deficit has remained below the 1 % target except in 2011, with the EU reaching its best result ever in 2014 (0.5 %).

Less participation in elections, but increasing online interaction with governments

Between 2000 and 2014, voter turnout in national parliamentary elections in the EU fell 3.4 percentage points. About two thirds of this decline in the share of citizens casting their vote took place in the short term between 2009 and 2014. Yet, over the same period, a favourable tendency in the online interactions of citizens with public authorities in the EU was registered, with interactions increasing by 10 percentage points. Overall, almost half of EU citizens aged 16 to 74 used e-government in 2014.

No shift in taxation from labour to environmental taxes

The ratio of labour to environmental taxes increased by 1.8 % in the EU, from 7.9 in 2007 to 8.0 in 2012. Such a trend remains counter to the EU goals of shifting the tax burden from labour to energy and environmental taxes (‘greening’ the taxation system).

Main statistical findings

Policy coherence and effectiveness

Citizens’ confidence in EU institutions

Citizens’ confidence in EU institutions remains generally low. After a low in 2013, trust in both the European Parliament and the European Commission increased slightly in 2014. The European Parliament remains the most trusted among the main EU institutions.

Figure 1: Level of citizens’ confidence in EU institutions, EU, 1999–2014 (%) - Source: European Commission, Eurobarometer (online data code: (tsdgo510))

Trust levels for all four institutions have declined in the long term, reaching the lowest point in 2013 for the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Central Bank. The lowest levels for the Council of the EU were reached in 2011 . In the short term, between 2009 and 2014, both the European Parliament and the European Commission lost 8 percentage points, while the European Central Bank (ECB) registered a decrease in citizens’ confidence of 10 percentage points. Both long-term (since 1999) and short-term trends (since 2009) follow a common path of decreasing citizens’ confidence in EU institutions. In 2014, less than half of the EU citizens (42 %) said they trusted the European Parliament. However, it remained still the most trusted of the four evaluated EU institutions. Even fewer citizens said they trusted the European Commission (38 %). Seemingly low trust is expressed towards the Council of the EU (36 %), for which data have been collected until 2012. In comparison with the other EU institutions mentioned, the ECB shows the lowest level of confidence with a percentage of 34 % for both 2013 and 2014.

• Low trust levels in EU institutions is matched by a general lack of trust in national political institutions

EU citizens’ trust in political institutions at all levels of government is generally low (European Commision, 2014). EU citizens have the lowest trust in national governments (29 %) and national parliaments (30 %). They are more likely to trust regional and local authorities (43 %) and international institutions, such as the United Nations (48 %). Recent reports (European Council on Foreign relations, 2013) (Centre for European Policy Studies, 2011) show that the economic crisis and the following spending cuts (‘austerity policy’), together with the way these were managed, seem to explain much of the lack of trust. The last published Eurobarometer (Autumn 2014) (European Commission, 2014) reports that unemployment represents the most important national concern among EU citizens, followed by the economic situation, immigration, health and social security, and government debt.

Infringement cases

The total number of Single Market-related pending infringement cases fell by 38 % in the EU in the long term between 2007 and 2014. Most of this drop occurred in the short term between 2009 and 2014. Transport, environmental issues and taxation account for more than half of the total of infringement cases by policy sector.

Figure 2: Open infringement cases, EU, 2007-14 (number)- Source: European Commission services (Single Market Scoreboard)

Figure 3: Infringement cases by sector, EU-28, 2014 (%) - Source: European Commission services (Single Market Scoreboard)

The number of open infringement cases in the EU, referring to cases where Single Market rules are presumed to have been incorrectly applied or transposed and where a letter of formal notice has been sent to the Member State in question, dropped considerably in the long-term period between 2007 and 2014. The most notable falls occurred in 2010 and 2011. Although both long-term and short-term trends are favourable, the two periods showed slightly different trends: the drop was much faster and more evident in the last five years, between November 2009 and November 2014, representing almost 85 % of the total drop. After a six-year decline, infringement cases started to increase again slightly in the last year, between November 2013 and November 2014, rising from 807 to 826 cases.

• Considerable differences in infringement cases between policy sectors

There are major differences among individual policy sectors. Considered together, transport, environment and taxation made up more than half of the total of infringement cases in 2014. In the Single Market, the major concerns continue to be in the areas of transport with 20.7 % of all infringement cases (air transport accounting for almost half of cases in this sector), environmental issues with 20 % (water protection and waste management in particular) and direct and indirect taxation (totalling 15.4 %).

Transposition deficit of EU law

A 2.5 percentage point drop in the transposition deficit of EU law occurred between 2000 and 2014. This puts the EU well inside the target for transposition deficit of Single Market rules and is its best result to date.

Figure 4: Transposition deficit of Single Market law, EU, 1997–2014 (%) - Source: European Commission services, Eurostat (online data code: (tsdgo220))

Figure 5: Transposition deficit of Single Market law, by country, 2009 and 2014 (%) - Source: European Commission services, Eurostat (online data code: (tsdgo220))

In 2014, the EU registered a decrease of 0.2 percentage points in the transposition deficit of Single Market Law. The transposition deficit has stayed below the 1.0 % target set by the European Council in 2007 , reaching the 0.5 % target proposed by the European Commission in the Single Market Act in 2011 (Commission Communication, 2011). The results for 2014 represent the best ever registered, as shown by the Single Market Scoreboard . In the long term (from 2000 to 2014), a decreasing and favourable trend has been registered from a value of 3 % to the mentioned last result of 0.5 %. Considering the last five-year period (from 2009 to 2014), the indicator reveals mixed short-term tendencies. The 1 % target was met every year with the exception of 2011, when the deficit increased to 1.2 %.

• How transposition deficit varies across Member States

In 2014, only Slovenia did not comply with the 1 % target established by the European Council in 2007. At 1.4 %, Slovenia had the highest transposition deficit in the EU, increasing by 0.9 percentage points since 2009. Except Slovenia, Romania and Cyprus, all EU Member States were below the 1 % target in 2014. Moreover, 13 Member States met the 0.5 % target proposed by the European Commission in the Single Market Act in April 2011. Another six Member States were close to the target, showing that most Member States could reach the 0.5 % target for the transposition deficit with some additional effort. Croatia and Malta had the lowest transposition deficit across the EU in 2014, at 0.1 %. The strongest improvements since 2009 took place in Greece, which cut its transposition deficit by 1.3 percentage points from 1.5 % to 0.2 %, and Czech Republic and Italy, which both decreased their deficits by 0.9 percentage points, meeting the 1 % and 0.5 % targets.

Openess and participation

Voter turnout

A 3.4 percentage point reduction of voter turnout in national parliamentary elections was recorded in the EU for the long-term period from 2000 to 2014. The decline was strongest in the short-term period from 2009 to 2014, although the share of citizens casting their vote has remained stable since 2012.

Figure 6: Voter turnout in national parliamentary elections, EU-28, 2000–14 (%) - Source: Eurostat - IDEA (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance) voter turnout database (online data code: (tsdgo310))

Figure 7: Voter turnout in national and European Parliament elections, by country (%) - Source: Eurostat - IDEA (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance) voter turnout database (online data code: (tsdgo310))

The EU average voter turnout in national parliamentary elections was 77.7 % in 1990. Ten years later, after dropping 6.3 percentage points, the share of citizens casting their vote reached 71.4 % in 2000. Since then, voter turnout has dropped further by 3.4 percentage points. The decline was particularly strong in the short term, between 2009 and 2014, when voter turnout fell by 2.4 percentage points. It has, however, remained stable at 68 % since 2012. Many factors influence voter turnout and among these a few seem to have a more sizable impact, such as population size and electoral closeness, a more stable population, campaign expenditures and institutional procedures governing the course of the elections (Geys, 2006, pp.637-663). Nevertheless, the contemporary erosion of voter turnout may potentially be associated with younger generations not voting in the elections (Delwit, 2013, pp.44-52).

• How voter turnout varies across Member States

Only seven EU Member States had a voter turnout of more than 80 % at their latest national elections, namely Malta, Luxembourg, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Cyprus and France. In 12 countries the percentage of eligible voters who cast their vote was between 60 % and 80 %. Only three countries had a voter turnout at national elections that was lower than half of eligible voters: Poland, Romania and Lithuania.

• Much lower participation in EU parliamentary elections compared with national elections

Participation in EU parliamentary elections is significantly lower than voter turnout in national elections. The past 35 years (1979 to 2014) did not only see a significant change in the EU’s composition but also a falling trend with regard to voter turnout in EU parliamentary elections, signalling a loss of almost 20 percentage points . With a share of 42.5 % for the most recent election in 2014, EU voter turnout did not reach half of the eligible EU population. In six Member States the turnout was lower than 30 % and in two of them it did not even reach the 20 % threshold. Only three countries were over the 60 % threshold: Malta, Luxembourg and Belgium. The unfavourable performance of EU parliamentary elections compared with national elections may represent accordingly second-order elections in which national issues are more salient than EU ones (Schmidt, 2011). It may also reflect a lack of information on EU matters among EU citizens , as well as a general perception of EU affairs not having a significant impact on national policies and personal interests.

Citizens’ online interactions with public authorities

A 10 percentage point increase in citizens’ online interactions with public authorities was recorded in the EU in the short term between 2009 and 2014. Overall, almost half of EU citizens used e-government in 2014.

Figure 8: Individuals using the internet for interaction with public authorities, EU-28, 2008–14 (% of individuals aged 16 to 74) - Source: Eurostat (online data code: (tin00012))

Figure 9: Individuals using the internet for interaction with public authorities, by country, 2009 and 2014 (%) - Source: Eurostat (online data code: (tin00012))

In 2014, 75 % of EU citizens regularly used the internet, which marks an increase of 14 percentage points since 2009 . Over the same period, the share of EU citizens using the internet in the last 12 months for interacting with public authorities increased as well, by 10 percentage points. After a slight drop in 2013, online interactions with public authorities grew again, reaching 47 % in 2014. This means that almost half of EU citizens aged 16 to 74 interacted with public authorities via internet.

• EU target on regular internet usage was met in 2014

Since the launch of the Digital Agenda in 2010, regular internet use in the EU has increased by 10 percentage points, from 65 % in 2010 to 75 % in 2014. The Digital Agenda target of 75 % of the population using the internet regularly by 2015 was therefore reached in 2014. Most people in the EU use the internet on a daily basis. Almost two-thirds (65 %) of people aged 16 to 74 in the EU-28 used the internet daily in 2014 compared with 38 % in 2007. Differences in household take-up and regular internet use by EU citizens were however substantial between Member States. Regular use ranged from 90 % and above – in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland and Luxembourg – to 48 % in Romania.

• How internet interaction with public authorities varies between Member States

In 2014, internet interaction with public authorities was above 60 % in six countries (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France), reaching the highest point in Denmark with 84 %. In 13 EU Member States, more than half of the population aged 16 to 74 did not have online interactions with public authorities, varying between 49 % and 10 %. Internet interaction with public authorities increased in all Member States between 2009 and 2014. The strongest increases, although from a low level, took place in Latvia, Greece, and Portugal. Greece, in particular, more than tripled its numbers, increasing from 14 % to 45 % of online interactions. Luxembourg, Italy and Poland did not follow such a growth pattern but remained close to their 2009 level, with increases of only 1 percentage point in Luxembourg and 2 percentage points in Italy and Poland. However, the lowest percentage of internet interaction with public authorities in 2014 was registered in Romania at 10 %, which nonetheless experienced a weak growth of the indicator in the past five years (by 3 percentage points).

• Online public services are perceived as highly satisfying

Once citizens start to use online public services, they generally find the experience highly satisfying with the most appreciated features being the usefulness of information, followed by the ease of finding information and the ease of using online services (European Commission, 2014). However, lack of trust seems to be the main source of non-use, and has been expressed by non-users with a variety of reasons: a preference for personal contact, higher trust for paper submissions, concern about personal data, or a lack of immediate feedback. Other reasons for non-use include a lack of skills and an incomplete digitalisation of government services (European Commission, 2014). Transparency is an important element for increasing take up of online public services, because it helps build citizens’ trust in public administrations. The data show that this important feature is still not sufficiently at the centre of e-government strategies for many governments, with few exceptions (European Commission, 2014).

Economic instruments

Environmental taxes compared with labour taxes

The ratio of labour to environmental taxes increased by 1.8 % in the EU between 2007 and 2012. Following a sharp increase in 2008, the ratio has however been declining since then. This trend is counter to the EU goal of shifting the tax burden from labour to energy and environmental taxes (‘greening’ the taxation system).

Figure 10: Ratio of labour to environmental taxes, EU-28, 2006–12 (ratio of the share of labour taxes in total revenues from taxes and social contributions to the share of environmental taxes) - Source: Eurostat (online data code: (tsdgo410))

Figure 11: Shares of environmental and labour taxes in total tax revenues from taxes and social contributions, EU-28, 2007 and 2012 (%) - Source: Eurostat (online data code: (tsdgo410))

Figure 12: Implicit tax rate on energy, EU-28, 2006–13 (EUR per tonne of oil equivalent) - Source: Eurostat (online data code: (tsdcc360))

Environmental taxation has played an important role in policy debates during the current and previous economic crises. Many have argued that raising environmental taxes could create scope for labour tax cuts and deliver the double dividend of higher employment and a better environment. Also, environmental taxes have been increasingly used to influence the behaviour of economic operators, whether producers or consumers, generating revenues that can potentially be used to promote further environmental protection . In 2007 revenues from labour taxes were 7.9 times higher than revenues from environmental taxes. This ratio reached a peak in 2008, followed by a slight drop to about 8.0 in 2012. As a result, over the analysed short term period since 2007 the tax burden shifted from environmental towards labour taxes.

• The share of labour taxes in total revenues from taxes and social contributions has increased …

The share of labour taxes in total revenues from taxes and social contributions in the EU reached 51 % in 2012. This is about the same level as ten years earlier, although fluctuations over this period have been registered. Nevertheless, there are large differences in the share of labour taxation among the Member States, ranging from 32.9 % to 58.6 %. This is accompanied by an overall stagnation in the share of environmental taxes at the EU level, from 6.4 % in 2006 to 6.3 % in 2013. This trend is opposing the Europe 2020 strategy’s objective ‘to shift the tax burden from labour to energy and environmental taxes as part of a 'greening' of the taxation system’ (European Commission, 2010). With regard to environmental taxes, only two Member States (Bulgaria and Slovenia) showed a share above 10 % of environmental taxes in total revenues from taxes and social contributions in 2013. In the remaining Member States the share of environmental taxes ranged from 4.5 % to 9.6 %.

• … but the effective tax burden on energy has risen.

The implicit tax rate on energy (ITR) is measured as the ratio of energy tax revenues (adjusted for inflation) to final energy consumption and represents the effective tax burden on energy. Energy taxes form the major part of environmental taxes, accounting for more than three quarters of environmental taxes in 2013 . The ITR has risen significantly since the economic crisis began in 2008. This rise mirrors considerable reductions in final energy consumption in the EU. As a result, the effective tax burden on energy has grown by 13.8 % since 2008, reaching EUR 212.3 per tonne of oil equivalent in 2013.

Context

Why do we focus on good governance?

The objective of sustainable development (especially the balancing and integration of environmental, economic and social objectives) poses significant challenges for government bodies, which were originally established to address sectoral concerns. These challenges are interdependent and integrated, and so require ‘comprehensive approaches and popular participation’ (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). The EU Sustainable Development Strategy, as the EU’s main policy document for strategic and integrated decision-making in the area of sustainable development, contains principles for governance that reflect governance processes in Europe.

The link between governance and sustainable development is thus fundamental and was already addressed in the Brundtland Report of 1987. Generally, governance refers to the steering of societal processes by governing procedures and institutions in a democratic manner. ‘Good governance’ is a specifically normative usage that prescribes certain steering procedures and institutions — based on principles, values and norms (such as participation, transparency and rule of law) — that should be adopted to achieve preferred outcomes. The EU has addressed good governance in its White Paper on European Governance, defining five principles for application and designating the concept a normative standard for the EU’s policy processes. That governance mechanisms are crucial for sustainable development has also been widely acknowledged at UN meetings: from framing sustainable development as a governance reform in Agenda 21 in 1992 (United nations, 1992), the Johannesburg World Summit in 2002 to the Rio+20 Conference in 2012.

The good governance provisions described in the EU Sustainable Development Strategy and in the White Paper on European Governance can be grouped into three main themes:

• Policy coherence and effectiveness focuses on better regulation as highlighted in the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. Here some of the issues of policy relevance are ‘new infringement cases’ and ‘transposition of EU law’. They concern mainly the vertical dimension of policy coherence, that is, the coherence between the EU and national levels. Another important issue is the ‘citizens’ confidence in EU institutions’ because it provides information on the perception of EU institutions by EU citizens.
• Openness and public participation put accent on two policy guiding principles of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy, namely open and democratic society, and the involvement of citizens. Some of the main issues important for monitoring are ‘voter turnout’ and ‘e-government usage’.
• Economic instruments relate to the polluter pays principle and the focus on economic instruments in the EU Sustainable Development Strategy and the Europe 2020 strategy. The monitoring of important issues such as ‘environmental taxes compared to labour taxes’ and ‘implicit tax rate on energy’ allows the EU performance in the shift of taxation from labour to environmental taxes or the so-called 'greening' of the taxation system to be evaluated.

Several interlinkages are apparent within the issues covered in the good governance theme. First, confidence in the main EU institutions may affect voter turnout in EU parliamentary elections. Second, there is a link between new infringement cases brought before the Court of Justice of the European Union and the transposition of Single Market law by Member States. Third, citizens’ online interactions with public authorities are linked to more open access to public authorities in general.

There is also a direct link between good governance and other sustainable development themes. The pledge to shift taxation from labour to environmental taxes can be linked to sustainable consumption and production (particularly to ‘resources and waste’ and ‘consumption patterns’), climate change and energy, sustainable transport and natural resources.

How does the EU tackle good governance?

The EU Sustainable Development Strategy (EU SDS) (Council of the European Union, 2009) addresses good governance in various sections, namely in the sections on policy guiding principles, better policy-making, and financing and economic instruments. Various policy guiding principles are directly related to good governance:

• Open and democratic society: guaranteeing citizens’ rights of access to information (1st pillar of the Aarhus Convention) and access to justice (3rd pillar of the Aarhus Convention); promoting adequate consultation and participatory channels for all interested parties and associations (2nd pillar of the Aarhus Convention).
• Involvement of citizens: enhancing the participation of citizens in decision-making; promoting education and public awareness of sustainable development; informing citizens about their impact on the environment and their options for making more sustainable choices.
• Involvement of businesses and social partners: enhancing the social dialogue, corporate social responsibility and private-public partnerships to foster co-operation and common responsibilities to achieve sustainable consumption and production.
• Policy coherence and governance: promoting coherence between all EU policies and coherence between national, regional and local actions to enhance their contribution to sustainable development.
• Policy integration: promoting the integration of economic, social and environmental policies so that they are coherent and mutually reinforce each other by making full use of instruments for better regulation, such as balanced impact assessment and stakeholder consultations.
• Make polluters pay: ensuring that prices reflect the real costs to society of consumption and production activities, and that polluters pay for the damage they cause to human health and the environment.

The Europe 2020 strategy (Commission Communication, 2010) includes a chapter on ‘stronger governance’ for delivering results. Apart from designing a governance mechanism for streamlining policy objectives, it describes a multi-level governance system and responsible institutions that are need to be involved in policy delivery, including the main EU institutions (Council, Commission, Parliament); national, regional and local governments; stakeholders and civil society. The White Paper on European Governance (Commission Communication, 2001) includes five principles of good governance:

• Openness: EU institutions should work more openly.
• Participation: the quality, relevance and effectiveness of EU policies depend on ensuring wide participation throughout the policy chain.
• Accountability: roles in the legislative and executive processes must be clearly defined.
• Effectiveness: policies must be effective and timely; delivering what is needed on the basis of clear objectives.

Coherence: policies and actions must be coherent and easily understood.

Further reading on good governance

• European Commission (2011), Aarhus Convention Implementation Report: COM(2011)208 final, Brussels.
• European Commission (2010), The European eGovernment Action Plan 2011–2015: Harnessing ICT to promote smart, sustainable & innovative Government, COM(2010) 743, Brussels.
• European Commission (2010), A Digital Agenda for Europe, COM(2010) 245 final, Brussels.
• Eurostat (2013), Taxation trends in the European Union: Data for the EU Member States, Iceland and Norway, 2013 edition, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
• European Commission (2012), 29th Annual Report on Monitoring the Application of EU Law, COM(2012) 714 final, Brussels.
• European Commission (2012), Digital Agenda Scoreboard for Europe 2012, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
• European Environment Agency (2011), Environmental tax reform in Europe: opportunities for eco-innovation, Technical report No 17/2011, Copenhagen.

See also

• Sustainable development - global partnership

Further Eurostat information

Main tables

• Sustainable Development Indicators, see:

Good governance

Dedicated section

• Sustainable Development Indicators

Methodology

• More detailed information on good governance indicators, such as indicator relevance, definitions, methodological notes, background and potential linkages, can be found on page 315-334 of the publication Sustainable development in the European Union - 2015 monitoring report of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy.