This paper is a purely conceptual analysis of the potential influence of the European Commission's Integrated Product Policy (IPP) initiative on the development of sustainable services and systems (3S). It begins with a brief introduction to the IPP initiative and its relationship to services and sustainable development. It then goes on to look at sustainable services and systems from a macro and micro level perspective. Finally, it analyses the potential influence of the specific policy measures proposed in the Commission's IPP Green Paper on sustainable services and systems. At the macro level, the paper finds that the IPP initiative can promote the development of sustainable services and systems by influencing the framework conditions in which services operate. At the micro level, the IPP initiative can also influence sustainable services, particularly in terms of research and development. However, further knowledge is required before policy measures should be used to influence specific sustainable services solutions.

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Last updated: 13 November, 2008