European Union as Environmental Governance System (original) (raw)
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European Journal of Sustainable Development Research, 2016
The European Union by its sui generis character of supranational structure having its own law and institutions as a power above national states, has aimed the integration target while developing environmental policies like other policy fields. 1970s were the awareness period of environmental degradation for the sake of economic development in the world. That period also became awakening years for the European Union from the perspective of environmental protection. EU Member States have become to take common actions in environmental issues like other many fields. The Second World War did not only damage human and economic capacity of the European Continent but also deteriorated the European environment. Not much later of the establishment of the European Economic Community, EU introduced many legal and administrative arrangements from preventive to protective. Environment action programmes have been the basis for the European Union in order to develop its environmental policies. EU has introduced seven environment action programmes so far. Each of them covers a specific period of time. While the first programme was covering the period of 1973-1976, the final (seventh) programme covers the period of 2014-2020.
The roles and tasks of environmental agencies in Europe
Icelandic Review of Politics Administration, 2012
The paper describes the outcome of a survey conducted among heads of environmental protection agencies (EPAs) throughout Europe. Around 70-80 % of the domestic environmental legislation in Europe is decided at EU level. The laws decided at EU level apply either directly or are transposed into national legislation by a decision of the national parliaments. It is usually the task of an EPA to monitor and oversee the implementation of the legislation. The majority of the EPAs regard themselves as "quasi-independ ent" i.e. independent agencies with strong ties to, and cooperation with, ministries up on which they are dependent financially. Around a quarter of EPAs are minister ial departments. There is no noticeable correlation between demo graphic properties and the administrative structure of the EPAs. The active level of governance, with some noticeable exceptions, is on a national level. Most EPAs have policy advice and contribution to the knowledge base (research, monitoring, data gathering and assessment) as their main tasks. A significant number of EPAs are also tasked with regulatory functions, but in other instances these important functions are carried out within other government entities. Their main field of work as regards pollution prevention is air, freshwater and waste. EPAs also deal substantively with climate change and soil. Energy, agriculture and health are also covered, albeit not on a major level. Environmental communication is a major task for most EPAs. Virtually all of them deal with environmental indicators, assessment reports and provision of information to governments and the general public. Future environmental policy needs to address the fact that present lifestyles, resources and land use seem to put substantial pressure on the environment. EPAs will have increased role therein as the managers of the knowledge base, the communicators of environmental knowledge and brokers for sustainable resource use. The EPA Network has established itself as an important part of the environment policy loop in Europe due to its cooperation and practical knowledge from domestic implementation of European environment policy and legislation.
Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law, 2011
And if the problem of climate change is seriously addressed, the ultimate strategy will be based on incentives, not on command-and-control. 1 §1. introdUcinG reGUlAtorY MUltipolAritY: eUropeAn environMentAl GovernAnce With regard to its evolutionary legal development, the eU's multi-level framework of environmental and climate regulation faces a variety of contemporary challenges. Alongside the complexities related to scientific evidence for environmental protection, the conflict between normative hierarchy and heterarchy as well as the trade-off between legal harmonization and regulatory decentralization requires adjusted legal arrangements on a global scale. Moreover, the pluralistic administration in the supply of global common goods combined with the reluctance of Member states towards community methods needs integrated governance mechanisms, 'where many elements are capable of making mutual adjustments for ordering their relationships with one another within a general system (…)' 2 of normative order. not only the multitude of top-down approaches in environmental regulation has largely been contested. The european commission's understanding of its hybrid role in the process of decision-making has also been subject to concerns within a number of domestic administrative bodies. Additionally, the design of modern statehood that once correlated with its territorial, civil and political space 'metamorphosed' into a sovereign entity of europeanized and globalized character providing legitimacy to supranational institutions. 3 The process of structural adaptation to new frames of transnational regulation, therefore, coincides with the emergence of a multitude of non-state actors aiming for the integration into different political fora of decision-and norm-making. especially, the severe management of climate change regulation exceeds the limited scope of sovereign states and accounts for cooperation on a global scale. considering that the effects of climate change have spread across continents, countries and communities, state and non-state authorities are asked
Environmental Policy in the European Union
2001
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