https://querfeldein.consulting/ Recent content on Querfeldein Hugo -- gohugo.io en nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) Sat, 28 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000 https://querfeldein.consulting/blog/carbon-border-tax-explained-iv/ Sat, 28 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) https://querfeldein.consulting/blog/carbon-border-tax-explained-iv/ We continue with part IV of our series Carbon border tax explained. See part I, part II, and part III if you have missed them. Experts believe that designing an Border Carbon Adjustment (BCA) that effectively contributes to reducing global greenhouse gases emissions without jeopardising the multilateral trading system is difficult, but possible. The following expert recommendations should be observed in the design of a carbon border tax for the European Union. https://querfeldein.consulting/blog/carbon-border-tax-explained-iii/ Fri, 27 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) https://querfeldein.consulting/blog/carbon-border-tax-explained-iii/ We continue with part III of our series Carbon border tax explained. See Part I and Part II, if you have missed them. In view of these benefits, why aren’t European politicians and EU officials all up for it? The answer is that the introduction of a Border Carbon Adjustment (BCA) has a number of caveats, most notably it’s technical complexity and the difficulty of designing a scheme that is compatible with internal trade law. https://querfeldein.consulting/blog/carbon-border-tax-explained-ii/ Sat, 14 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) https://querfeldein.consulting/blog/carbon-border-tax-explained-ii/ We continue with part II of our series Carbon border tax explained. See part I, if you have missed it. There are several motivations for the European Union to consider introducing a Border Carbon Adjustment (BCA) regime: Avoid carbon leakage Carbon leakage means that the positive CO2 reduction effect that a tightening of the EU’s environmental legislation would have within the EU is offset by the additional CO2 emitted outside the EU, possibly leading to an overall increase in emissions. https://querfeldein.consulting/blog/carbon-border-tax-explained-i/ Thu, 12 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) https://querfeldein.consulting/blog/carbon-border-tax-explained-i/ The European Union has an Emissions Trading System (ETS) in place. European industries pay a price per ton of CO2 emitted, currently about 25 percent per ton, if they exceed their originally granted emissions allowances. The current scheme has been criticised for setting the carbon price too low for it to be an effective regulatory mechanism and for giving free emissions allowances to some energy-intensive industries. The EU industry and many politicians understandably argue that unilaterally raising the carbon price would weaken the industry’s competitiveness as foreign companies don’t have to pay for emitting CO2, which makes their products comparatively cheaper. https://querfeldein.consulting/blog/carbon-border-tax-explained/ Tue, 03 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) https://querfeldein.consulting/blog/carbon-border-tax-explained/ World leaders are meeting these two weeks at the 25th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP25) in Madrid to discuss, once again, how they will step up their national climate commitments (‘nationally determined contributions, or NDCs’) by 2020. Commentators see very few signs that a breakthrough will be reached at this COP, especially since major emitters such as the USA or China have not expressed any intentions of enhancing their NDCs. https://querfeldein.consulting/aboutme/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) https://querfeldein.consulting/aboutme/ For the past seven years, I have been working in the sphere of regional development and territorial cooperation, contributing to a Europe where borders become ever less important. My project porfolio includes studies in the field of EU Structural and Investment Funds management and Interreg programme impact evaluations. I advised and supported Interreg programmes on building cogent intervention logics and defining meaningful performance indicators. Moreover, I worked as an advisor to the Regional Parliament of Castile and Leon, Spain, on the topic of rural depopulation and ageing. https://querfeldein.consulting/about/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) https://querfeldein.consulting/about/ Querfeldein specialises in cross-disciplinary research and consulting in programme design, programme evaluation and policy advising. The German word ‘querfeldein’ translates as ‘exploring terrain off the beaten track’. It stands for our inter-disciplinary, even unconventional, strategy of combining methods from social sciences, environmental sciences, spatial planning and other disciplines for approaching research tasks. Querfeldein works in collaboration with partner institutions across Europe on projects commissioned by EU-funded programmes, European institutions and regional authorities, and on research projects funded through EU research programmes. https://querfeldein.consulting/projects/administrative-capacity-building/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) https://querfeldein.consulting/projects/administrative-capacity-building/ National Expert for the Study on the ’Use of Technical Assistance for Administrative Capacity Building During the 2014-2020 Period’ for the European Commission, DG Regio Duration: 05/2019-06/2019 Lead partner: European Policies Research Centre, University of Strathclyde The study aims at enhancing the understanding of the planned and implemented use of Technical Assistance (TA) under EU Cohesion Policy programmes during the 2014-20 period for sustainable capacity building activities, particularly in the area of Human Resources Development. https://querfeldein.consulting/projects/european-regional-legislative-assemblies/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) https://querfeldein.consulting/projects/european-regional-legislative-assemblies/ Advisor to the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies’ (CALRE) working group on depopulation and ageing for the Regional Parliament of Castile and Leon Duration: 09/2018-02/2019 The Regional Parliament of Castile and Leon is leading a working group on depopulation and ageing composed of 18 legislative assemblies in six EU member states (Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Portugal). The Working Group establishes a framework for the exchange of experiences and good practices of the respective regions, to formulate a joint European strategy for addressing depopulation and aging on the regional level and disseminate it on local, regional and national level as well as among the European institutions. https://querfeldein.consulting/projects/events-fi/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) https://querfeldein.consulting/projects/events-fi/ Duration: 04/2018-06/2019 Lead partner: t33 Srl (until 08/2018); Deloitte Luxembourg (09/2018 to date) Organization of the Annual EU Conferences on EAFRD financial instruments 2018 & 2019 and Fi-Campus event 2018. Event organisation support for fi-compass, the EU platform for advisory services on financial instruments under the European Structural and Investment funds of the European Investment Bank and European Commission https://querfeldein.consulting/projects/impact-evaluation-northern/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) https://querfeldein.consulting/projects/impact-evaluation-northern/ Duration: 01/2017-02/2019 Lead partner: European Policies Research Centre, University of Strathclyde, Scotland/UK The study assessed the achievement of Northern Periphery and Arctic (NPA) programme objectives in each of the four programme axis and to the implementation of the horizontal principles as well as the impact of the NPA in relation to the targets of the Europe 2020 strategy. This involved territorially-based in depth case studies and interviews ranging from strategic-level to project end users, the analysis of programme monitoring data, focus group event, survey and elite level interviews. https://querfeldein.consulting/projects/impact-evaluation/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) https://querfeldein.consulting/projects/impact-evaluation/ Duration: 06/2018-06/2019 Lead partner: European Policies Research Centre, University of Strathclyde The overall aim of the research is to undertake an impact evaluation with a focus on assessing the impact of a selected sample of Interact services.1) Harmonised Implementation Tools (HIT); 2) Electronic monitoring system (eMS); 3) keep.eu; 4) Harmonised Interreg branding; and 5) Support to the implementation of macro-regional strategies. A variety of methods and tools were used, including interviews, focus group and online surveys. https://querfeldein.consulting/projects/programm-impact-northern/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) https://querfeldein.consulting/projects/programm-impact-northern/ Duration: 02/2015-11/2015 The project included the development of programme result indicators and the facilitation of expert panel meetings for the establishment of indicator baselines and targets. https://querfeldein.consulting/projects/impact-study-northern/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) https://querfeldein.consulting/projects/impact-study-northern/ Duration: 02/2014-07/2014 The study took stock of the achievements of the Northern Periphery Programme 2007-2013 in terms of programme outputs and impacts. Outputs (i.e. products and services developed by projects), impacts and target groups were identified from projects’ final reports and classified according to an ad hoc developed typology. In addition to the analysis of project reports selected case studies were conducted by means of in-depth interviews with project partners and end users of the projects’ products and services. https://querfeldein.consulting/projects/low-carbon-society/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) https://querfeldein.consulting/projects/low-carbon-society/ Duration: 06/2019-05/2023 Lead partner: University of Valladolid LOCOMOTION is a research and innovation project funded under the EU’s Horizon 2020 Programme that focuses on the further development of the MEDEAS Integrated Energy-Economy-Environment-Society Assessment Model (IAM). MEDEAS successfully addresses a number of known shortcomings of other IAMs such as the lack of proper consideration of biophysical constraints to energy availability or the consistent integration of climate change damages in impact assessments. https://querfeldein.consulting/publications/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000nathalie.wergles@gmail.com (Nathalie Wergles) https://querfeldein.consulting/publications/ McMaster, I., Wergles, N., Vironen, H. (2019). Results Orientation: What is it doing for Interreg? EStIF 1|2019, Special Issue on Indicators, Monitoring and Evaluation, p. 1-8 McMaster, I., Wergles, N., Vironen, H. (2019). Case-based Impact Evaluation of the Interact Programme 2014-2020. Final report. Interact Programme. McMaster, I., Wergles, N., Vironen, H. (2018). An impact evaluation of the Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme 2014-2020: Final report. Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme