Peer Review 17-18 November: Developing effective ex ante social impact assessment
The 2010 Update of the Joint Assessment by the Social Protection Committee and the European Commission of the social impact of the economic crisis and of policy responses states that as fiscal consolidation measures risk aggravating further the social consequences of the crisis, Member States should reinforce their capacity to assess the social impacts of their major policy and spending decisions.
Belgium made social impact assessment a priority during its presidency of the EU in the second half of 2010 and continues to search for better ways of carrying out such assessments. Sharing methods for ex ante social impact assessment will help to improve techniques in Belgium and elsewhere.
