The decarbonization of EU energy system is under way, but manufacturing industry is still using approximately 25% of the EU total final energy use. To maintain long-term competitiveness while contributing to the EU goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, manufacturing industry needs to improve energy efficiency in a cost-effective way. One important way to achieve this is through energy audits. The Energy Efficiency Directive promotes member states development of energy efficiency programs to encourage industry to undergo energy audits. Previous studies have reviewed industrial energy efficiency policy program evaluations and argued that there is no harmonized way to conduct them. This leads to difficulties in: i) comparing energy efficiency and cost saving potentials throughout different programs, and ii) providing necessary information that supports the improvement of the policy program. Therefore, we argue that a harmonized methodology for industrial energy efficiency policy program evaluation is of great importance, and, we have developed a set of five-steps guidelines that lay the foundation for an ex-ante energy efficiency policy program evaluation methodology. The guidelines are to be be conducted during the lifetime of the program, in five steps, as follows: (s1) define key issues, (s2) set the objectives for each key issue, (s3) identify the options for each key issue, (s4) analyze options from an energy and environmental perspective, and (s5) compare options and select the recommended one. Our proposed methodology will support policymakers and evaluators answer questions such as: i) how can the objectives of the policy program be achieved? ii) is there any need to change the policy program? Furthermore, a comparison in terms of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability of all major policy options developed, including the status quo option is proposed in the methodology. This paper can be seen an important step towards the goal of creating a harmonized policy evaluation methodology. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Funding Agencies|Swedish Energy AgencySwedish Energy Agency [302881]; Division of Energy Systems at the Department of Management and Engineering, Linkoping University, Sweden