2005

• Europeanisation and Environmental Policy Change ( 248Kb)
  

  Abstract: Environmental policy is one of the most regulated and one of the most Europeanised policy areas. This article analyses the concept of Europeanisation, discusses its mechanisms, the mediating factors that lead to change and its possible outcomes. It explores the relationship of specific mechanisms and mediating factors to policy convergence, inertia and divergence. The particularities of environmental policy are presented and a distinction between substantive and procedural policies is made. It is argued that a tendency to convergence of national environmental policies that goes beyond the borders of the EU and further than the “hard” mechanisms of Europeanisation can be observed.

  Citation: Ladi, S. 2005. ‘Europeanisation and Environmental Policy Change.’ Policy and Society 24 (2): 1-15.
  

• Policy Divergence as a Response to Weak International Regimes: The Formulation and Implementation of Natural Resource New Governance Arrangements in Europe and Canada
  ( 446Kb)
  

  Abstract: This article addresses the issue of convergence and divergence in Europe, and elsewhere, of a specifi c type of governance arrangement: “Natural Resource New Governance Arrangements” (NRNGAs). Two cases of the development of these regimes in the environmentally-related areas of forest and fi sheries management are examined in Europe and North America, focusing on the Canadian experience in the latter case. The fi ndings reveal signifi cant similarities across sectors and countries but little evidence of any larger pattern of policy convergence. While the impetus for the adoption of both these NRNGAs lies in the international and regional realms, without the force of either international law or competitive advantage, consequential pressure for convergence is weak. It is proposed that the reasons for the differences in NGA adoptions thus lie primarily in the interaction of the changing capacities of domestic public and private actors active in the affected resource policy arena: specifi - cally, the interplay between the effect of the internationalisation of resource policy issues, tending to increase private capacities at the expense of the public one, and the declining importance of primary industries, which has the reverse effect.

  Citation: Howlett, M., and J. Rayner 2005. ‘Policy Divergence as a Response to Weak International Regimes: The Formulation and Implementation of Natural Resource New Governance Arrangements in Europe and Canada.’ Policy and Society 24 (2): 16-45.
  

• A (Slow) Burning Issue: Convergence in National Regulation of Dioxins from Incineration ( 383Kb)
  

  Abstract: Since the 1980s, industrialised countries have shown substantial convergence in their regulation of dioxin from municipal solid waste incineration. Despite significant convergence in emissions limits, countries vary substantially in their timing, with some acting much sooner than others. What explains the observed convergence? New scientific information is an important permissive condition for convergence. The findings are most consistent with a mechanism of transnational communication, although independent problem solving cannot be ruled out. The actions of international NGOs do not appear to be significant in explaining the outcome. European Union directives and international agreements did not lead on this issue, although they have pushed the laggards to act. What explains the variation in timing across countries? Patterns of adoption are not explained by levels of dioxin exposure, as those countries with higher reliance on incineration and greater exposures tended to regulate later than others. Domestic political factors account for delayed responses in laggards.

  Citation: Weibust, I. 2005. ‘A (Slow) Burning Issue: Convergence in National Regulation of Dioxins from Incineration.’ Policy and Society 24 (2): 46-73.
  

• The Europeanisation of CO2 Regulation in the Scandinavian Countries ( 335Kb)
  

  Abstract: The impact of European integration differs over time and between states. This article demonstrates how the increasing europeanisation of CO2 regulation in the Scandinavian countries has lead to increasing convergence in the regulatory systems for very important target groups. The same system is being implemented in EU-member states (Denmark and Sweden) and an EEA member state (Norway), but at this stage the implementation is dissimilar in the sense that the established CO2 tax delimits where quotas are introduced in Norway. In contrast, however, the quota systems in Sweden and Denmark delimit to a higher extent where the CO2 taxation continues to exist. However, at this stage, it cannot be concluded that the variation is due to different degrees of Europeanisation.

  Citation: Pedersen, L.H. 2005. ‘The Europeanisation of CO2 Regulation in the Scandinavian Countries.’ Policy and Society 24 (2): 74-99.
  

• Examining Influences of EU Policy on Instrument Choice: The Selection of a Green Certificate Trading Scheme in Sweden ( 416Kb)
  

  Abstract: This paper explores the circumstances of the Swedish selection of an obligatory green certificate trading scheme over other policy instruments. The choice of policy instruments in the energy policy area is bound to the international context and in Europe to the European Union (EU). The aim of this paper is to examine the relative influences of European policies on the selection of certificate trading for stimulation of renewable electricity production. The paper turns to the ideas of Europeanisation to analyse influences from European policy on domestic instrument choice process. The empirical findings confirm the Europeanisation theories which suggest that European policies can affect domestic policy changes despite lack of prescribed measures. The study shows that the EU guidelines on state aid invoked a need to change support scheme, together with domestic factors: a programme coming to an end, a policy commitment to increase the share of new, renewable electricity production and budget restrictions. EU policies strengthened existing preferences for a market-based support scheme and influenced the dominant actors’ expectations about the future, providing additional justification of their instrument preferences. On the whole, this paper illustrates how the notion in economic theory to make use of the market for resource management has proliferated strongly in Swedish energy policy making.

  Citation: Åstrand, K. 2005. ‘Examining Influences of EU Policy on Instrument Choice: The Selection of a Green Certificate Trading Scheme in Sweden.’ Policy and Society 24 (2): 100-128.

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