This report, commissioned by the Directorate-General for Environment, provides the European Commission with comprehensive evidence to help determine whether the EU Environmental Technology Verification (EU ETV) Pilot Programme ("the Programme") is achieving its desired outcomes and impacts after more than three years of operation. The voluntary Programme was deployed across seven Member States (Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Poland and the UK) with an emphasis on Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), although it was open to companies of all sizes, both in and outside the EU28. The study was carried out by ICF, VITO and IEEP, from May 2017 to March 2018, in support of the evaluation of the Programme by the Commission. It was split into two elements. The first (Objective A) provides the supporting evidence for the evaluation, while the second (Objective B, and covered in a separate report) examined different options for how an EU ETV scheme might operate in the future. Extensive research and consultation was undertaken to answer the core study questions, grouped by the following evaluation criteria: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and EU added value. Stakeholders engaged by the consultants comprised those who directly involved in the development and delivery of the Programme, as well as companies (final beneficiaries) of the verification service provided under the Programme. Additionally, a Public Consultation, stakeholder forum and consultations with mainly public sector actors from seven Member States outside the Pilot area (Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden), was used to build awareness of the Programme outside the Pilot area and to elicit views on its suitability for environmental technology companies in their Member State.
