EU Environmental Policy

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EU Environmental Policy
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EU Environmental Policy

• Treaty of Rome 1957 (Art. 100)
• Single European Act 1981 (Arts.130r, 130s,
  130t,100a)
• Environmental protection component of EC policy
• Maastricht Treaty 1992
• Precautionary principle
• qualified majority voting
• Treaty of Amsterdam 1997
• Principle of sustainable development
• Integrate environmental consideration in other
  issue areas
• Extents authority of EU Parliament in
  environmental policy

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European Institutions

• European Commission (DG Environment)
• Council of Ministers
• European Parliament
• European Court of Justice (ECJ)

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EU Environmental Policy Instruments

• Regulations Take effect on date specified in
  them or 20 days after official publication
• Regulation (3528/86) Protection of Forests
  Against Atmospheric Pollution
• Regulation on the evaluation and control of the
  risks of existing substances (1993)
• Directive Have to be transposed in national laws
  (usually within 2 years)
• -Directive 2003/87/EC establishing a scheme for
  greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within
  the Community
• -Large Combustion Plant Directive (1988, 2001)
• -DIRECTIVE 2001/81/EC on national emission
  ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants
• Subcidiarity principle actions are taken at the
  EU level only if they cannot be undertaken more
  efficiently at the local level

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Large Combustion Plant Directive (1988) Emissions
Limits
Thermal capacity (MW) SO2 (Mg/Nm3) Desulfurization rate () NOx (Mg/Nm3) Dust (Mg/Nm3)
1. Solid fuels 50-100 2000 650 100
100-500 2000-400 40 (100-167 MW) 40-90 (167-500 MW) 650 100
gt500 400 90 650 50
2. Liquid fuels 50-300 1700 450 50
300-500 1700-400 linear decrease 450 50
gt500 400 450 50
3. Gaseous fuels 350 5
3.1 Gaseous fuels in general 35
3.2 Liquefied gas 5
3.3 Low calorific gases 800
Source European Council 1988, Directive
88/609/EEC, Annex III-VIII
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Areas of EU Environmental Policy

• General
• Air
• Water
• Waste
• Chemicals
• Biodiversity
• Biotechnology
• Noise
• Industrial risk
• Integrated pollution control
• Eco-labeling and audits
• Climate
• Over 400 pieces of legislation altogether

http//europa.eu.int/comm/environment/policy_en.ht
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Why No Race to the Bottom?
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Expanding the EU Environmental Mandate

• Market integration drives policy integration
  (functionalist logic)
• Trade and environment conflicts
• barriers to the functioning of the common
  internal market
• transaction cost considerations
• ECJ rulings as focal points for new regulations
• EU institutions and institutional rules
• Examples
• Chemical safety policies (US lead, the EC
  followed because of trade interests)
• Auto emission standards (California, Germany, EC
  standards)
• Danish beer bottle case
• Danish ban on cans, require reusable bottles
• ECJ 1988 ruled trade restriction on environmental
  grounds are justified provided they do not
  discriminate unfairly
• Directives on beverage containers and on
  packaging and waste
• Most of the environmental acquis related to the
  common market

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Expanding the EU Environmental Mandate

• Exporting domestic regulations (political
  logic)
• Domestic regulations provide incentive to
  harmonize at EU level (avoid competitive
  disadvantage, promote domestic regulatory style
  and technology
• Examples
• Integrated Pollution Prevention Control
• issue permits to large industrial resources
• -minimize pollution in air, water, land waste
  minimization and efficiency (UK approach),
• -Best Available Technology Not Entailing
  Excessive Cost (BATNEC) in as well.
• Large Combustion Plant Directive
• command and control (German Approach)
• technology based standards
• Denmark tried exporting eco tax on fuels, but
  proposal killed.

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Expanding the EU Environmental Mandate

• Environmental concern (political logic)
• Commission as agenda setter
• Role of environmental leaders (Germany,
  Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Finland,
  UK more recently)
• The green accession of Sweden, Denmark,
  Austria, Finland
• The EU Acidification strategy stricter Large
  Combustion Plant Directive (2001) National
  Ceilings (2001). Took 4 years to negotiate
• Public advocates
• Environmental Impact Assessment Directive
• Food safety and GMOs
• EU business
• Well organized at the European Union levels
• Influences negotiations both through governments
  as well as through the Commission

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Implementation of EU Environmental Policy

• Is the glass half empty or half full?
• Mechanism of enforcement
• Police control by the European Commission
  monitoring of compliance
• Fire alarms complaints to the European
  Commission cases for non-compliance with EU law
  can be raised at national courts
• Mechanisms of environment management or norm
  and policy diffusion
• Capacity building (twinning)
• Information and shaming
• Subsidization of environmental infrastructure
• More flexibility

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Future of EU Environmental Policy

• Would the accession of poorer Central and East
  European States dilute EU environmental policy?
• Areas of leadership in IR
• Climate
• Biotechnology
• Chemicals regulation
• Waste minimization
• Biodiversity?
• Transnational organization of actors play a
  growing role (environmentalists, business,
  science, bureaucrats)
• Issues of policy integration (agriculture,
  transport, energy) still unresolved, on the
  agenda

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Challenges of EU Accession and the Environment

• Unequal economic development
• Structural reforms and unemployment
• Weak administrative capacity
• High cost of environmental regulations (est. EUR
  120 bn over 10 years)
• Environment one of most difficult areas for
  accession negotiations (European Commission 1997)

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The Puzzle of Environmental Harmonization

• All closed environment negotiations
• Limited transition periods for implementation
• Is this a case of paper compliance?

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The Czech Republic Air Emissions, 1990-1997
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Poland Air Emissions, 1990-1997
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Bulgaria Air Emissions, 1990-1997