About this survey
The Government Barometer presented on this website is a WWF rating of the EU governments' commitments towards the elimination of illegal logging and the actions they’re taking to achieve this.
The Government Barometer survey was conducted by us, and the ratings of the EU governments are the responsibility of WWF.
The survey and the scorings of the fifth round of the Government Barometer were conducted between October and December 2011, with the harmonisation and consultation process ongoing throughout January 2012. The scores were generated either by a WWF representative based in the country in question or by a consultant, and a scoring team to ensure consistency across all the countries. The current Government Barometer was launched in February 2012. It’s the fifth Government Barometer survey and covers all 27 EU member states. The first survey was launched in April 2004 and covered the 'old' EU member states only; the second, third and fourth surveys were launched in late 2004, 2006 and 2007 respectively and achieved a much wider coverage of old and new member states. Five of the original questions have largely remained the same since the first scoring, which allows us to assess changes over time in government attitudes and actions.
In this rating of the EU governments, we’ve focused on nine issues that are important in ensuring effective action against illegal logging. The maximum score in the 2007 survey was 20 points. In 2012 this has reduced to 18 points. Changes made to the questions in this survey have been more significant than in past surveys (four new questions have been added) and reflect progress made in the last five years on the VPAs and legislative commitments outlined in the original FLEGT Action Plan.
We’ve used the following scoring scales in 2012:
13-18 points: good
(in 2007: 14-20 points; 2006: 16-22 points; 2004: 13-18 points)
7-12 points: on the right path, but needs improvement
(in 2007: 8-13 points; 2006: 9-15 points; 2004: 7-12 points)
0-6 points: inadequate
(in 2007: 0-7 points; 2006: 0-8; 2004: 0-6 points)
We’ve given a score between 0 and 2 to reflect the governments' performance with regard to each of the nine issues. Total scores have been calculated for each country and each question. Individual country scores and the information (provided by the national governments) upon which these scores are based have also been reported.
Previous surveys
This project is funded by the European Union.
The contents of this webpage are the sole responsibility of WWF-UK and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union