ABSTRACT
European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON) programme has played a major role in developing and later improving Territorial Impact Assessment (TIA) methods and techniques. The Committee of the Regions (CoR), as advisory body representing Europe's local and regional authorities, in cooperation with ESPON has been one of the important promoters of TIAs since the first TIA tools were in development. The main objective and scope of ESPON TIA Quick Scan – the latest ESPON project on TIA concluded in 2014 – was the elaboration of a web-based practical tool to identify potential territorial impacts of new EU legislation, policies and directives. Quick Scan TIA workshops are intended to assess the potential asymmetrical territorial impact of given legislative proposal by applying the ESPON Quick Scan tool. The development of ESPON TIA tool was funded by the research programme ESPON, the European Observation Network for Territorial Development and Cohesion, which is a European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation since the current funding period.
