Transnational Networks and Paths to EU Environmental Compliance: Evidence from New Member States

Abstract

This article examines transnational environmental networks as an important and thus far understudied mechanism that can influence the pathways toward compliance with European Union (EU) legislation in new Member States. The argument stipulates that transnational networks, on balance, increase the capacity and political leverage of Central and Eastern European states and societal actors to activate management and enforcement paths to compliance with EU environmental norms. The theoretical framework specifies the network assets and the mechanisms through which they can support the two paths to compliance. In the empirical section, this framework is used to examine the impact of transnational environmental networks on the compliance with EU biodiversity directives in two of the most recent Member States: Bulgaria and Romania.

When Practice Goes beyond Legislators' Expectations: Analysis of Practical Implementation Exceeding Legal Compliance with EU Directives

“…Implementers' policy preferences can be shaped by their experiences and contacts with external and internal ‘principals’ including interest groups, clients, citizens, and so on (see, for example, Egeberg and Trondal, ; Yesilkagit and van Thiel, ). External influences generally emerge from actors' participation in trans‐national networks of policy experts and representatives of national regulatory bodies, who provide ideational and material resources for the implementation of EU policies (Andonova and Tuta, ; Keck and Sikkink, ). First, trans‐national networks strengthen the capacity of domestic actors to comply with EU rules through information dissemination about the most appropriate interpretation of EU rules (Andonova and Tuta, , p. 779).…”

“…External influences generally emerge from actors' participation in trans‐national networks of policy experts and representatives of national regulatory bodies, who provide ideational and material resources for the implementation of EU policies (Andonova and Tuta, ; Keck and Sikkink, ). First, trans‐national networks strengthen the capacity of domestic actors to comply with EU rules through information dissemination about the most appropriate interpretation of EU rules (Andonova and Tuta, , p. 779). Second, EU‐wide networks could have socializing effects on domestic actors leading them to adopt preferences that are closer to the goals of EU policies than to the policy objectives of national authorities.…”

“…Consequently, it is considered imperative to rely on clear and coherent legislative outcomes to fulfill major implementation tasks. This perspective, however, is at odds with recent developments emphasizing the decreasing control of the state on bureaucratic actors and the role of transnational networks in policy-making (see, for example, Andonova and Tuta, 2014;Raustiala, 2002). In other words, implementing actors could vary both in their responsiveness to national governments and their expertise to resolve compliance problems.…”

The Monitoring Capacity of Civil Society Networks: A Social Network Analysis in the Case of Gender Equality Policy

“…By defining monitoring as the collection and dissemination of information on issues of implementation of EU gender equality law and conceptualizing a monitoring network as a pattern of exchange, a network approach has the potential to analyse monitoring capacity in terms of social capital. Monitoring entails coordination among stakeholders at different levels of the policy process and the gathering and transmission of information about the implementation performance can help CSOs gain credibility and leverage over policy-makers (Fox 2001;Andanova and Tuta 2014).…”

‘You can’t have one without the other’: the differential impact of civil society strength on the implementation of EU policy

“…Finally, there is a large literature on transnational civil society focusing on the links between domestic CSOs and their international counterparts. In this view, transnational networks empower national CSOs by providing expertise and resources (Andonova and Tuta 2014;Schofer and Longhofer 2011).…”