Chapter 18 Environmental Politics

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Chapter 18Environmental Politics

• Wyn Grant and Jane Feehan

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Environmental Politics

• Environmental policy as a success story?
• The development of EU environmental policy
• Precautionary principle
• Policy-making process
• Non-governmental organisations
• Policy areas

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Environmental policy as a success story?

• Pollution as international issue
• Since SEA, environmental policy an EU competence
• Environmental policy giving way to economic
  policy?

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The development of EU environmental policy

• Environment policy lacked treaty basis until SEA
  (1987)
• Environmental Action Programmes (began 1973)
• EAPs have moved towards a more holistic,
  long-term approach
• Land use planning remains a member state
  responsibility

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Precautionary principle

• The precautionary principle is at the heart of EU
  environmental policy
• Precautionary principle
• Lack of scientific proof for a risk of
  environmental harm is not a reason for failing to
  take preventative action
• Difficulty implementing the principle

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Policy-making process

• Divergence between member state preferences
• Germany, Scandinavia pro-environment
• UK, East Europe lack green credentials
• But these distinctions are weakening
• 2004 accession states have long periods before
  they need to comply with environment policy
• DG Environment created 1981 Commissioner
  established 1989
• EP greenest of the institutions
• European Environment Agency (from 1994)

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Non-governmental organisations

• Interest representation dominated by business
  interest groups
• Recent rise of Green G8
• Gang of Four (Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace,
  WWF and EEB), evolved into G8
• Some specialisation within the Green G8
• But business interests remain strongest see
  REACH reforms

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Policy areas

• The fragmentation of policy-making
• Climate change
• Ground level air pollution
• Biodiversity
• Birds and Habitats Directives (1979 and 1992)

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Benefits of EU environmental policy

• Environmental policy exemplifies the benefits of
  European integration
• Supranational problem-solving
• United European voice on the international stage
• Help to tackle EU legitimacy deficit

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Challenges

• Economic objectives often prioritized
• NGOs influence on the wane?
• No clearly identifiable group of green member
  states
• Contestation of the precautionary principle