Public launch of MIDAS: the models behind EU policies

The European Commission opens the MIDAS inventory to the public, providing a user-friendly platform to explore the models used to support evidence-informed policymaking in the EU.

The new public version of MIDAS, the Modelling Inventory and Knowledge Management System, helps anyone explore any of the 35 models used for impact assessments since 2017.

The information available on the platform can help everyone to better understand the evidence used by the Commission when designing and evaluating policies that address today’s big challenges.

As well as providing useful documents and references, MIDAS explains how each model supported the analysis carried out for each impact assessment - indicating the leading Commission department, who runs the model, and which impacts it has helped to assess.

For each model, MIDAS also gives information on:

- Structure : details on the modelling approach, data inputs and outputs, spatial and temporal extent and resolution;

- Transparency: The extent to which underlying data, model results, code and documentation are available and accessible;

- Quality : if and how uncertainties are quantified and accounted for, if sensitivity analysis has been done, if the model has been peer reviewed or validated, if results are published in peer reviewed journals.

The Commission makes extensive use of models to support policymaking, from their initial design to evaluating their environmental, economic and social impacts. Models are used in many policy areas, such as agriculture, the environment, transport, economics and fisheries.

For example, the Commission recently used modelling to assess the feasibility of committing to EU climate neutrality by 2050, and of the 2030 Climate Target Plan, which raises the EU's ambition on reducing greenhouse gas emissions to at least 55% below 1990 levels by 2030.

By clearly presenting information on models that supported Commission impact assessments and making that information easy for the public to navigate, MIDAS encourages scrutiny of the quality of evidence provided by modelling and the exchange of good practices in model use.

The aim is to give everyone - whether it’s research bodies, decision makers or the general public - confidence in the contribution that these models make to better policy design and evaluation.