A Methodological Framework for Environmental Compliance Assessment Under the Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) Principle in EU-Funded Projects

The assessment of the “Do No Significant Harm” (DNSH) principle in European Union (EU)-funded projects currently relies on narrative justification, which generates subjective evaluations, inconsistent results, and high administrative effort. This study aims to develop an operational framework and project-level tool to standardize how environmental impact is measured across multiple sectors and project types. The methodology applies a stepwise, non-compensatory approach, combining typology-based filtering, financial thresholds derived from carbon intensity and sustainability coefficients, checklists, spatial analysis, and quantitative indicators such as the circular economy transition metric. Each environmental objective is evaluated independently, ensuring that compliance cannot be offset by positive performance in other areas. The framework was preliminarily validated using a dataset of 1406 projects implemented in Romania, indicating its potential to distinguish low-risk from high-risk projects, reduce evaluator subjectivity, and improve the proportionality of analytical effort. While the tool is tested on Romanian case studies, its design allows for application across various European funding programmemes. The tool supports early-stage screening, encourages green procurement, and aligns project planning with EU environmental objectives, including climate mitigation, adaptation, water resource protection, pollution prevention, circular economy, and biodiversity conservation. The proposed methodology provides a clear, reproducible, and practical approach, offering evaluators a consistent mechanism for DNSH compliance verification and integrating environmental protection into project design and implementation.