Environmental impact assessment (EIA) in the Netherlands is found to have great impact: 79% of those examined showed high direct benefits. Even taking into account the time and financial efforts required to produce an EIA, 69% showed a beneficial impact. The explanation offered for this degree of impact is threefold and supported by the research: the process-bound nature of EIA; the possibility of considering EIA as part of the negotiation arena that enables actors to defend their interests and to negotiate on the proposal and implementation methods; the presence of the EIA Committee and its role in the process. An EIA that starts early in the process and focuses on main policy themes is more likely to gain consensus among actors.
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Heuvelhof et al. (1997) studied this question.