A post-austerity European Commission: no role for environmental policy?

Čavoški, Aleksandra

doi:10.1080/09644016.2015.1008216

Cited by 49 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…Similarly, the hitherto separate portfolio for environment was merged with Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, and the climate portfolio, created in the second Barroso Commission, was combined with Energy. Čavoški (, p. 501) interprets these organizational changes as part of a “post‐austerity agenda to stabilise national economies and boost jobs growth and investment.” This observation may support the “new intergovernmentalist” thesis that the supranational institutions are no longer “hard‐wired to seek ever‐closer union” (Bickerton, Hodson, & Puetter, , p. 712). Possible examples are the Commission's announcement in 2014 to withdraw the Clear Air Quality and Waste Packages.…”

Section: Flexibility or Rollback?mentioning

confidence: 99%

European environmental policy at 50: Five decades of escaping decision traps?

Deters

2019

Env Pol Gov

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Rather than being constrained by the least ambitious governments, the European Union (EU) has until recently set the pace of national environmental policy. The contribution examines why the EU was often able to set the pace despite the institutionalist expectation that national diversity and quasi-unanimity should produce joint-decision traps. It also explains why this is no longer the case. Adopting a long-term, diachronic perspective, I argue that the EU's unexpected dynamism and its recent decline are related to distinct institutional exits from the joint-decision trap that have opened and closed in different periods. During the emergence of the policy area, diversity was manageable through bargaining, and joint gains were abundant.Between the late 1980s and the Eastern enlargement, as environmental policy was increasingly adopted under the community method, supranational intervention became an additional exit mechanism, with an activist European Parliament and strong agenda setting by the Commission. Since mid-2000, the green dynamism is in decline, as supranational interventions wane and bargaining solutions become insufficient to cope with increased diversity after enlargement, exacerbated by the economic crisis. However, nonpolitical lawmaking in the regulatory mode is emerging as a novel exit from the joint-decision trap.

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Section: Flexibility or Rollback?mentioning

confidence: 99%

European environmental policy at 50: Five decades of escaping decision traps?

Deters

2019

Env Pol Gov

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“…The new European Commission – headed by Jean‐Claude Juncker and which commenced in November 2014 – appears to have accelerated this change in focus. For example, early analyses highlight a reorganization of environmental portfolios within the Commission that prioritizes energy security over climate change, and an apparent mandate for deregulation following a review of all uncompleted major initiatives (Čavoški, ; Gravey, ). In line with these changes, in December 2014, the Commission outlined plans to postpone its flagship Circular Economy package and weaken proposed air pollution rules (European Commission, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of the Economic Crisis on European Union Environmental Policy

Burns

Tobin

2016

J of Common Market Studies

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The ongoing European economic crisis provides a focus for academics wishing to understand the relationship between major exogenous shocks and changes to environmental protection. Yet, measuring change, particularly to policies, is notoriously fraught with difficulties. This research note explores the conceptual and methodological challenges associated with capturing change in response to the economic crisis in Europe, specifically focusing upon the environment. The environment is typically touted as a European Union success story, but there is good reason to suspect that this policy sector may have been – and continues to be – negatively affected by the economic downturn. We suggest a toolkit of measures that can capture changes to this sector, and which may also be employed by researchers of other policy sectors.

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“…As regards the role of the European Commission, the findings contribute to the debate on EU environmental policy dismantling (Bürgin, ; Burns, Eckersley, & Tobin, ). Although the Commission's reduced environmental policy legislative agenda in the aftermath of the 2008/2009 economic crisis has been considered to indicate waning ambitions in this field (Čavoški, ; Steinebach & Knill, ), any such assessment should be qualified by the Commission's intensified efforts to improve compliance monitoring.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%