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Samfundsøkonomiske omkostningsvurderinger ved anvendelsesreguleringer på kemikalieområdet About the GuideThis guide has been elaborated through a collaboration between the Danish Environmental Protection Agency and COWI AS. The outline and the content of the guide have been decided at the regular meetings between DEPA and COWI. Background The preparation of this guide is motivated in the increasing demands that new regulation and legislation in the field of chemicals (as well as in other fields) should be accompanied by assessments of the economic effects of the planned interventions. Economic analyses are thus carried out on an increasing scale in Denmark as well in other EU Member States and other Western European countries. However, a common definition of the contents of such methods and the analyses to apply has not yet been developed and agreed upon. Therefore, the immediate comparability of results from different analyses can be quite limited. Furthermore, the lack of a common basis renders it difficult to apply the conclusions from the analyses as part of the basis for decisions because methods and results are often not immediately transparent. Objective The objective of the guide is thus to provide a proposal for a set of uniform instructions for the principles and methods to apply in relation to calculations in the field of chemicals. Thereby, the guide will assist to ensure that the cost calculations are done correctly and to provide for the comparability of results. This will in turn enhance the basis for following decisions on interventions. Another important objective of the guide is to contribute to the enhanced efficiency of the preparation of these economic analyses because it provides an operational and transparent set of instructions. (It should be noted that this guide is the first of its kind in the field of chemicals. Therefore, it is important that experience and lessons learned from its use will be made available to and used in a possible later revision of the guide). Target group The target group of the guide is first and foremost DEPA staff and DEPA's external consultants as well as others who are to prepare economic assessments in relation to possible interventions in the chemical field. In the longer term, the guide, and the experience and lessons learned from its practical use, is expected to constitute an input into the efforts to reach an agreement at the EU level on a common set of instructions Basis This guide has been prepared on the basis of thorough studies of existing guides in other areas as well as already completed cost assessments. Among the sources and background material are the following: Finansministeriet: Vejledning i udarbejdelse af samfundsøkonomiske konsekvensvurderinger, November 1999 og Miljø- og energiministeriet: Samfundsøkonomisk vurdering af miljøprojekter, af Danmarks Miljøundersøgelser, Miljøstyrelsen og Skov- og Naturstyrelsen, 2000. Outline and structure of the guide This guide consists of two parts. Part 1 consists of the guide itself. It contains short and fairly operational instructions for the carrying out of a cost assessment. This is accompanied by a number of practical examples from cost assessments carried out in Denmark and abroad. Furthermore, the guide contains a manual for how a cost assessment and its results should be reported. In relation to the guide itself a background note has been prepared as well (Part 2). This note elaborates more in-depth on the methods and principles for calculation focusing in particular on the more theoretical aspects. This part is mainly intended for use as a reference book. |