A Review of Integrated Pollution Control Efforts in Selected Countries

This report describes the reasons why integrated pollution control (IPC) became accepted as a necessary part of the environmental regulatory systems of the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Sweden and examines the experience these countries have had with unified environmental statutes, alternative compliance approaches, cross-media permitting, and other aspects of IPC that are under consideration in this country. The report is organized into five chapters. In the first chapter we provide a brief overview of the intellectual pedigree of integrated pollution control and discuss arguments that have been put forward by advocates of IPC as well as the counter-arguments of those who have taken a more skeptical view of the technical and political feasibility of implementing IPC measures. Chapter two details how the United Kingdom, long considered the dirty man of Europe, is developing an integrated system of industrial pollution control based on its 1990 Environmental Protection Act. The Act introduced new controls to limit and prevent pollution from a wide range of industries and has created a unified pollution inspectorate to ensure that the best practical environmental option (BPEO) for all media is achieved. We consider both the progress the UK Environmental Agency has made in IPC as well as the barriers it has encountered. In chapter three, we examine how the Dutch Environmental Ministry (VROM) was able to forge a consensus among diverse groups for the need to embrace innovative, integrated policies and then examine in detail the Dutch experience with alternative compliance efforts, notably their covenant system. The long-standing success of Sweden’s industrial permitting system is analyzed in chapter 4 and in the fifth and final chapter we consider the development and implications of the European Union’s recently adopted Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control, a document which is likely to have a profound influence on environmental management in Europe and elsewhere.

Future Directions for Joint Agricultural-Environmental Policies: Implications fo the United Kingdom Experience for Europe and the United States

Major agri-environmental programs tried in the United Kingdom (UK.) since the mid- 1980s are examined in this report. Special attention is given to the Environmental Sensitive Areas (ESA) scheme, the Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS), and schemes to promote organic agriculture-first the Organic Aid Scheme and, following that, the Organic Farming Scheme. Several major studies and reviews of these and other agri-environmental schemes in England, Scotland, and Wales have been conducted in recent years. These studies and reviews are drawn upon to examine both the successes and shortcomings of various schemes in drawing farmers into more environmentally sound farming practices and systems. In conducting this review and examination, primary attention is given to farmers\u27 income, risk reduction, and stewardship goals. Contextual factors given special attention include the following: prices and access to markets; technologies; the structure of agriculture; and social and human capital. Lessons for future agri-environmental strategies in the UK., elsewhere in Europe, and the United States are derived from this review. The emerging \u27multifunctionality\u27 approach to agricultural policy is emphasized. Among the lessons are ones dealing with: legume-based rotations in arable areas; financial assistance to organic farmers beyond the transition period; continued reform of the European Union\u27s Common Agricultural Policy; possible merging of the ESA scheme and the CSS; extension/technical assistance institutions and strategy; and social and human capital for environmental change. Several issues and challenges in greatly expanding agri-environmental policies and making them more effective in the future are analyzed and explained. Those issues and challenges pertain to: the compatibility of production support and stewardship support policies; balancing stewardship support and \u27environmental compliance\u27; opportunities for programs to contribute jointly to social and stewardship objectives; the compatibility of World Trade Organization rules with stewardship schemes; capitalization of scheme benefits into land values; how to gain from bottom-up planning and subsidiarity; and stewardship payments for farmers already practicing good stewardship

The evolution of regulatory thought in the UK over the last two decades: How does this reflect regulatory and academic thinking more widely?

Over the last two decades, regulatory thought in the UK has not fitted the strict deregulatory and regulatory dichotomy and has taken a more mature approach that is apparent in the adoption of recommendations by the Better Regulation Task Force. Therefore, we can talk here about a certain evolution. However, certain path dependence elements have still been present. Regulation has not been free from populist initiatives that occurred before this period, especially in the area of enforcement, nor from overreliance on previously successful solutions. An interesting aspect of regulatory initiatives adopted over this period is that they are both of an ‘integrative’ and ‘diffusive’ in character. It is difficult to speculate which theme has dominated. There are certain specific characteristics of regulation in the UK that have been preserved, but in general, regulation has often been consistent with regulatory themes in other countries, but not with academic thought. This has particular dynamics. Interestingly enough, whereas in the area of the environment, the UK could be considered as a pioneer, in terms of initiatives taken by organisations to which the UK is a party, regulatory steps have been rather reactive and minimal in scope

Reframing unlawful controls: judicial impact on UK asylum and deportation policy, 1990-2012

Supra -national and municipal courts are increasingly involved in determining the parameters of European states' refugee and asylum policy. Yet, little attention has been paid to how and why governments choose to comply with judicial decisions which constrain their policy goals. In the UK, judicial oversight of asylum control has occasionally met with outspoken political opposition, which has even challenged the legitimacy of judicial scrutiny. Nevertheless, `compliance' typically follows. This makes it all the more important to consider how and why judicial decisions on the lawfulness of asylum and deportation controls do nevertheless impact upon policy change and its justification by government.To identify key mechanisms which condition the impact of judicial decisions on the politics and policies of asylum control, this thesis presents comparative qualitative case study research into UK government responses to European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and municipal court rulings which concern deportation and asylum control policies. Comparative consideration is given to significance attached by governments to the source of the ruling (UK / ECtHR) and whether compliance was politically contested. Politicisation and domestic rulings are each expected to allow greater governmental opposition to judicial impact on policy goals. To capture variation, my analysis differentiates judicial impact on two typological planes: governmental response and the level of generality of governing ideas 'at stake' therein. This mobilises the explanatory potential of governmental framings of `the problem' of compliance, in terms of how constraining it is perceived to be; whether removing a policy instrument which can be readily replaced, challenging the continuity of underlying programmatic logics, or even the guiding public philosophy informing deportation and asylum control. Where more general governing ideas are at stake, governmental responses can be expected to reflect opposition to judicial impact.Critical framing analysis of the government's discursive response is applied to four key cases, ranging from 1990 to 2012. Framing is presented as a necessarily observable process through which judicial impact is manifest within government, and can be traced. Specifically, I analyse how the 'problem' of compliance and its policy impact are framed in political rhetoric which responds to the courts and in documents through which government interprets and inscribes the meaning and implementation of judicial decisions. My findings suggest that whilst governance of asylum and deportation in the UK may labour under a judicial shadow, this has not precluded legal risk taking and efforts to `contain' the impact of individual rulings on the viability of the overarching policy regime. By identifying the role of governing ideas `at stake' in governmental framings of judicial impact, I argue that it is possible to account for varying political responses to the courts, including politicisation of compliance. Where impact is framed as more general, politicisation of compliance follows. In contrast, the source of the ruling appears to have no independent significance to responses. The importance of a distinction between judicial impact on justificatory political rhetoric and the practice of administrative compliance is also reinforced

A comparative study of the environmental laws of India and the UK with special reference to their enforcement

This dissertation is a comparative study of environmental law and policy in India and the UK. The study uses research methodology based on comparative law method, concepts of lesson drawing and policy transfer from political science, and socio-legal approaches. This study concludes that India should take measures to improve enforcement of various environmental laws, including adopting a revised policy on pollution prevention, developing an integrated approach to pollution abatement, developing a policy on prosecution and enforcement, restructuring various environmental laws to meet treaty obligations, introducing incentive based instruments for pollution abatement and adopting a cooperative approach to enforcement of the environmental laws. India may positively draw lessons from the UK in these areas. The UK may draw inspiration from the novel environmental jurisprudence developed by the Indian Supreme Court. This study also favours establishment of an environmental court in each jurisdiction

A comparative study on cyber power : the United Kingdom, France, and Germany

This thesis aims to shed light on the concept of cyber power. Cyber power is a concept that has gained relevance with geopolitical dynamics reaching cyberspace and the increasing intertwining between the physical and digital. In this regard, this concept has been treated through three theoretical lenses: realism, liberalism, and constructivism. Still, constructivist approaches to the concept are sparse and deserve some attention. Thus, the thesis was based on a constructivist perspective, tackling the following research problem: How do states’ perceptions of cybersecurity shape the form of their power projection? Does that confer a new form of power relations, therefore, cyber power as a phenomenon? To answer these questions, the research was developed to be a qualitative comparative study with a case center design. The selection of cases took a regional focus and encompassed conventional geopolitical European powers: the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. As auxiliary methods, the research used qualitative document analysis, practice tracing, and interviews to ensure robust findings. Specifically, the thesis was divided into seven chapters. The first chapter presents the research design and briefly contextualizes the debate over cyber power. The second chapter recalls what power means, going back to Political Sciences' influences on International Relations and the generational development of cyber power theories and indexes. The third, fourth, and fifth chapters focus on the case studies of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, highlighting their digital mentalities (i.e., self and threat perceptions). The sixth chapter presents the comparison within the cases, pointing to similarities and differences in the concept of cyber power and how perspectives shaped the countries' international positions. The final chapter concludes the research findings and points out that strategic cybersecurity culture plays a relevant role in countries' cyber power perspectives. Even though cyber power was a term only used explicitly by the United Kingdom, it translated into the term sovereignty for France and Germany. In this regard, the idea of power in cyberspace presented itself as broader than just offensive and defensive capabilities, encompassing governance/diplomatic and economic/domestic affairs aspects. Besides, there is an influencing aspect, exposing that cyber power projection would be visible through diplomacy/cyber diplomacy.Esta tese tem como objetivo lançar luz sobre o conceito de poder cibernético. O poder cibernético é um conceito que ganhou relevância com a dinâmica geopolítica que atinge o ciberespaço e o crescente entrelaçamento entre o físico e o digital. Nesse sentido, esse conceito foi tratado por meio de três lentes teóricas: realismo, liberalismo e construtivismo. Ainda assim, as abordagens construtivistas do conceito são escassas e merecem alguma atenção. Dessa forma, a tese se baseou em uma perspectiva construtivista, abordando o seguinte problema: Como as percepções dos Estados sobre segurança cibernética moldam a forma de sua projeção de poder? Isso confere uma nova forma de relações de poder, portanto o poder cibernético como fenômeno? Para responder a estas questões, a pesquisa foi desenvolvida para ser um estudo qualitativo comparativo com um desenho centrado em casos. A seleção dos casos teve um enfoque regional e abrangeu potências geopolíticas europeias convencionais: Reino Unido, França e Alemanha. Como métodos auxiliares, a pesquisa utilizou análise qualitativa de documentos, rastreamento de práticas e entrevistas para garantir resultados robustos. Especificamente, a tese foi dividida em sete capítulos. O primeiro capítulo apresenta o desenho da pesquisa e contextualiza brevemente o debate sobre o poder cibernético. O segundo capítulo relembra o que significa poder, remontando às influências das Ciências Políticas nas Relações Internacionais e ao desenvolvimento geracional de teorias e índices de poder cibernético. O terceiro, quarto e quinto capítulos se concentram nos estudos de caso, do Reino Unido, França e Alemanha, destacando suas mentalidades digitais (ou seja, percepções de si mesmo e de ameaças). O sexto capítulo apresenta a comparação dentro dos casos, apontando semelhanças e diferenças no conceito de poder cibernético e como perspectivas moldaram as posições internacionais dos países. O capítulo final conclui os achados da pesquisa e aponta que a cultura de segurança estratégica desempenha um papel relevante nas perspectivas do poder cibernético dos países. Embora o poder cibernético seja um termo usado apenas explicitamente pelo Reino Unido, ele se traduziu no termo soberania para a França e a Alemanha. Nesse sentido, a ideia de poder no ciberespaço apresentou-se como mais ampla do que apenas capacidades ofensivas e defensivas, englobando aspectos de governança/diplomacia e econômico/ domésticos. Além disso, há um aspecto de influência no conceito, expondo que a projeção do poder cibernético seria visível por meio da diplomacia/ciberdiplomacia

Sobre la reestructuración, regulación y competencia en el sector de servicios públicos: experiencia del Reino Unido y sus implicaciones para América Latina

(Disponible en idioma inglés únicamente) Hay dos similitudes entre los programas de privatización de servicios públicos en el RU y América Latina. La privatización ha consistido principalmente en la transferencia al sector privado de compañías propiedad del Estado con posición dominante en su sector respectivo, a menudo con poderes monopólicos legales. Además, el uso extendido de una normativa basada en precios máximos en vez de la rentabilidad. Se puede sostener que una diferencia es que el RU trató de crear una política de regulación flexible estableciendo un conjunto de reguladores individuales del sector con cierta medida de independencia del gobierno con considerables poderes discrecionales.

The sub-prime crisis, the credit squeeze and Northern Rock: The lessons to be learnt

On 14 September 2007, after failing to find a 'White Knight' to take over its business, Northern Rock bank turned to the Bank of England ('the Bank') for a liquidity lifeline. This was duly provided but failed to quell the financial panic, which manifested itself in the first fully-blown nationwide deposit run on a UK bank for 140 years. Subsequent provision of a blanket deposit guarantee duly led to the (eventual) disappearance of the depositor queues from outside the bank's branches but only served to heighten the sense of panic in policymaking circles. Following the Government's failed attempt to find an appropriate private sector buyer, the bank was then nationalised in February 2008. Inevitably, post mortems ensued, the most transparent of which was that conducted by the all-party House of Commons' Treasury Select Committee. And a variety of reform proposals are currently being deliberated at fora around the globe with a view to patching up the global financial system to prevent a recurrence of the events which precipitated the bank's illiquidity. This article briefly explains the background to these extraordinary events before setting out, in some detail, the tensions and flaws in UK arrangements which allowed the Northern Rock spectacle to occur. None of the interested parties – the Bank, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Treasury – emerges with their reputation intact, and the policy areas requiring immediate attention, at both the domestic and international level, are highlighted. Some reform recommendations are also provided for good measure, particularly in the area of formal deposit protection