One of the key objectives of the Commission as laid down in the Better Regulation Agenda is to strengthen transparency in policymaking and policy development.

In the context of science for policy, this objective refers in particular to problems, challenges and opportunities related to making the use of models and data for policy analysis and impact assessments more visible, improve their comprehensibility for a heterogeneous audience and facilitate the testing and replication of results and the reuse of models and data by fellow scientists.

The findability and accessibility of data and information is an important dimension of transparency, but so is also the comprehensive, timely and proactive provision of information in ways which take into account the expectations, needs and capabilities of the audience without being compromised unduly by conflicting demands and constraints.

Against this background, CC-MOD seeks to advance the further development of a consistent approach towards transparency for the European Commission with a view to elucidate the structure and the causal mechanisms which make up a model, and the data and information flows within the model.

Of particular relevance in this context are baseline assumptions. A baseline is a description of what may happen under a specific set of baseline assumptions, judged plausible at the time of making the projections, and to be used as a benchmark for comparing and assessing alternative policy options.

Based on these insights, a number of recommendations are put forward to facilitate the documentation of the modelling related evidence, increase transparency and improve the quantification of baseline assumptions in EU impact assessments.