Reconsidering EU Compliance: Implementation performance in the field of environmental policy

Abstract

European Union (EU) environmental policy can only work in practice when it is implemented by and within the member states. Yet, despite its importance, we still lack a solid and cumulative understanding of the practical implementation of EU environmental policies, mainly because of the dominance of case‐specific empirical insights and the dichotomous conceptualization of compliant implementation. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for analysing implementation performance, which is built around three dimensions: substance, scope and effort. The framework's relevance and analytical quality are substantiated by a systematic review of empirical studies on practical implementation of 18 EU environmental directives. We find evidence of three types of knowledge deficits: there is neglect of the ‘scope’ and ‘effort’ dimensions of implementation; disproportionate attention to the Water Framework Directive, and the Northern and Western European member states. The proposed conceptual framework aims to inform future research on EU environmental implementation. © 2017 The Authors. Environmental Policy and Governance published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Integration, functional differentiation and problem‐solving in multilevel governance

“…Depending on the circumstances, transnational regulations can actually be more effective if they are adapted, that is, ‘customized’ to local contexts during implementation (Thomann ). Thus, while compliance with policies can be one operational criterion for problem‐solving, it also implies looking at patterns of performance (Bondarouk and Mastenbroek ), customization (Thomann , ) and effectiveness (Peters et al ).…”

Compliance with European Union environmental law: An analysis of digitalization effects on institutional capacities

“…By exploring digitalization effects, the article aims to reduce the gaps in the EU implementation literature. The implementation of EU environmental policy is still an understudied topic (Bondarouk & Mastenbroek, , p. 16; Höchtl, Parycek, & Schöllhammer, , p. 147; Tosun, , p. 437). The few existing accounts are in general skeptical of the possibility of effectively resolving the EU's implementation problems.…”

The Differentiated Implementation of European Participation Rules in Energy Infrastructure Planning. Why Does the German Participation Regime Exceed European Requirements?

“…This may be of particular interest for the study of administrative structures. As EU policies often give little prescription for the details of administrative implementation, there is much leeway for adaptation to existing administrative structures, capacities, and cultures (Bondarouk & Liefferink, 2016;Bondarouk & Mastenbroek, 2017;Heidbreder, 2014;Meyer-Sahling & Van Stolk, 2015). However, there may be pressures toward the development of a so-called European administrative space (Trondal & Peters, 2013), featuring similar decision making procedures and administrative structures.…”