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Trade and Economic Security

Ex-post evaluations

Ex-post evaluations are used throughout the European Commission to assess whether a specific intervention was justified and whether it worked (or is working) as expected in achieving its objectives and why.

Trade topics
  • Trade policy

Ex-post evaluations also look for unintended effects (i.e. those which were not anticipated at the time of the Impact Assessment or Sustainability Impact Assessment) and look for evidence of causality.

Methodology 

How are the evaluations carried out?

Evaluations are prepared by Commission services in accordance with the related Better Regulation Guidelines and Better Regulation Toolbox. Results of the evaluation work are summarised in a Commission Staff Working document.

When part, or all of, the evaluation work was outsourced to an external consultant, their evaluation report is published as well.

Better Regulation Agenda

The Better Regulation Agenda is about designing and evaluating EU policies and laws transparently.

Better regulation: why and how

Ongoing evaluations

Japan

Evaluation of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement

Final Report:

Draft Final Report:

Inception Report:

Terms of Reference:

Southern African Development Community (SADC)

Evaluation of the EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement

Final Report:

Draft Final Report:

Interim Report:

Inception Report:

Terms of Reference and Evaluation Roadmap:

Completed evaluations

Impact of the EU’s agreements on key environmental aspects, including the climate

Staff Working Document:

Final Report: 

Draft Final Report:

Inception Report:

2025/11: Canada

Evaluation of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)

Staff Working Document:

Final Report:

Draft Final Report:

Final Inception Report:

Draft Inception Report:

2023/10: Colombia, Ecuador and Peru

Evaluation of the EU-Colombia/Ecuador/Peru Trade Agreement

Staff Working Document:

Main report – October 2023

Executive Summary (other languages) – October 2023

Final Report:

Interim Report:

Inception Report:

Terms of Reference and Evaluation Roadmap:

2023/9: Georgia and Moldova

Evaluation of the EU-Georgia and the EU-Moldova Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas

Draft Final Report:

Draft Inception Report:

Terms of Reference and Evaluation Roadmap:

2023/06: Evaluation of the EU-Central America Association Agreement

Staff Working Document:

Main Report – June 2023

Executive Summary (other languages) – June 2023

Final Report:

Infographics:

Draft Final Report:

Inception Report:

Terms of Reference and Evaluation Roadmap:

2021/03: Evaluation of six Euro-Med FTAs

Evaluation of the trade component of the EU's Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements with six Mediterranean partner countries (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia)

2021/01: EU-Cariforum EPA

Evaluation of the CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement

2020/08: Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP)

Interim evaluation of the EU Regulation No 978/2012 on a scheme of generalised tariff preferences (GSP Regulation)

2019/03: EU-Korea FTA

Evaluation of the Free Trade Agreement between the EU and its Member States and the Republic of Korea

2017/02: EU-Mexico FTA

Ex-post evaluation of the implementation of the EU-Mexico Free Trade Agreement

2015/09: Key medicines

Evaluation of Council Regulation (EC) No. 953/2003 to avoid trade diversion into the European Union of certain key medicines

2014/09: EU-Cariforum EPA

Monitoring the implementation and results of the Cariforum-EU EPA

2012/03: EU-Chile

Evaluation of the economic impact of the Trade Pillar of the EU-Chile Association Agreement

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