Building Capacity for Evidence-Informed Policymaking in 7 Member States

Seven EU Member States countries—Greece, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Netherlands—have requested technical support in the area of Capacity for Evidence-informed Policymaking in Governance and Public Administration from the European Commission. This support will help them improve the effectiveness of their public administrations, through greater capacity for supply and uptake of scientific knowledge, evaluation and evidence in policymaking. 

Context 

The project ‘Building capacity for evidence-informed policymaking in governance and public administration in a post-pandemic Europe’ was inspired by the need of Member States to respond to complex policy issues requiring specialised knowledge, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic led to a widespread recognition in governments that the use of evidence in advising policy is vital but has not been as effective as necessary. 

Meanwhile political agendas have shifted in the past two years towards geopolitical threats, competitiveness, misinformation and democratic upheaval.  The new political guidelines of the European Commission, the Draghi and Letta reports also demonstrate the need for a shift towards increasing Europe’s competitiveness. Reliable data provide a basis for sound public policies by national administration.

Support delivered 

The project entailed country analyses including the centres of the government and the academia with tailor-made recommendations for reform implementation; capacity-building workshops to develop competences in researchers, policymakers, and knowledge brokers; and thematic symposia delivering international mutual learning exercises.

Results achieved 

The expected long-term impact of this project is the reinforced institutional integration of the use of evidence, science and evaluation for policymaking. 

Political decisions have been taken for reinforcing evidence-informed policy making in the participating Member States. For example, governments have recognised the need to strengthen evidence-informed policy making for delivering on important policy objectives such as reduction of administrative burdens (Belgium) or for evaluating their public policies (the Netherlands) or have decided to set up an office for evidence-informed policy making/analytical units at the centre of the government (Greece, Latvia) or have even implemented pilot programmes for ministries to collect their research needs (Czech Republic). In other Member States emphasis is on researchers with dedicated trainings for their communication with policy makers (Estonia) or for aligning scientific research with the government priorities (Lithuania). The importance of evidence-informed policy making has been recognised at political level: through the ministerial Ghant Declaration under the Belgian Presidency! Actions are taken in several Member States for strengthening the systematic interaction between the scientists and policy makers.