Does the European Union have a reverse gear? Environmental policy dismantling, 1992-2014

Abstract After decades of pushing for deregulation and regulatory reform in its Member States, has the European Union itself become a locus for policy dismantling – i.e. leading to a weakening of its policies? This thesis offers a first systematic study of policy dismantling at EU level. It focuses on environmental policies, an area in which EU action has repeatedly been criticised by politicians for harming competitiveness and not respecting national sovereignty. It combines for the first time insights from comparative politics studies of dismantling with EU governance literature, to offer a theoretical framework specially configured to explaining dismantling at EU level. It investigates which EU environmental policies have been targeted for policy dismantling, by whom, why and how, from the early 1990s to the end of the second Barroso Commission in 2014. It reveals how the EU has changed, from a driver of policy dismantling in its Member States to a locus of dismantling in its own right. Dismantling attempts (from the reduction of administrative burdens to the repatriation of competences) have been made by key EU actors – which for some, such as the European Commission, goes against the conventional wisdom in EU studies. These attempts have been justified in terms of criticisms of the EU’s legislative outputs – subsidiarity and proportionality – and of European integration itself. But they have not resulted in significant policy dismantling. Dismantling has been the least frequent outcome of legislative reform amongst the many pieces of legislation earmarked for dismantling. This pattern indicates the resilience – until now – of the EU’s “green state” (Klyza and Sousa, 2013), but dismantling attempts have markedly changed the way the EU legislates on environmental issues and further hindered policy expansion. This thesis contributes to the renaissance of dismantling studies in comparative politics by revealing how dismantling strategies and effects at EU level differ from the existing literature which focuses almost exclusively on nation states. Looking at the EU from a policy dismantling perspective, this thesis also questions foundational assumptions in EU studies – on what drives EU actors, on where the EU is headed. Finally it offers a different reading of the history of EU environmental policy, stressing the role that contestation in general, and dismantling in particular, have played in shaping the environmental acquis

Dismantling the Acquis? Twenty Years of Environmental Policy Reform in the European Union

The financial crisis triggered yet more demands to halt and even reverse the expansion of EU policies. But have these and previous demands resulted in policy dismantling? The existing literature has certainly charted the rise of dismantling discourses (including better regulation), but not the net effect on the acquis. For the first time, this paper empirically addresses this gap in the literature through a diachronic study of changes in a policy area repeatedly targeted for dismantling. It is guided by a coding framework capturing the direction of policy change. Despite its disposition towards consensus, it reveals that the EU has become a locus for activities aimed directly at dismantling. However, not all policies targeted have been cut; many have stayed the same and some have expanded. It concludes by identifying new directions for research on a topic that has continually fallen into the analytical blind spot of EU scholars

Chapter 19 New policy dynamics in more uncertain times?

The European Union (EU) has a hugely important effect on the way in which environmental policies are framed, designed and implemented in many parts of the world, but especially Europe. The new edition of this leading textbook provides a state-of-the-art analysis of the EU’s environmental policies. Comprising five parts, Environmental Policy in the EU covers the rapidly changing context in which EU environmental policies are made, the key actors who interact to co-produce them and the most salient dynamics of policy making, ranging from agenda setting and decision making, through to implementation and evaluation. Written by leading international experts, individual chapters examine how the EU is responding to a multitude of different challenges including biodiversity loss, climate change, energy insecurity, and water and air pollution. They tease out the different ways in which the EU’s policies on these topics co-evolve with national and international environmental policies. In this systematically updated fourth edition, a wider array of learning features are employed to ensure that readers fully understand how EU environmental policies have developed over the last fifty years and how they are currently adapting to the rapidly evolving challenges of the twenty-first century, including the COVID-19 pandemic. It is an essential resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying environmental policy and politics, climate change, environmental law and EU politics more broadly

Chapter 20 EU environmental policy at 50

The European Union (EU) has a hugely important effect on the way in which environmental policies are framed, designed and implemented in many parts of the world, but especially Europe. The new edition of this leading textbook provides a state-of-the-art analysis of the EU’s environmental policies. Comprising five parts, Environmental Policy in the EU covers the rapidly changing context in which EU environmental policies are made, the key actors who interact to co-produce them and the most salient dynamics of policy making, ranging from agenda setting and decision making, through to implementation and evaluation. Written by leading international experts, individual chapters examine how the EU is responding to a multitude of different challenges including biodiversity loss, climate change, energy insecurity, and water and air pollution. They tease out the different ways in which the EU’s policies on these topics co-evolve with national and international environmental policies. In this systematically updated fourth edition, a wider array of learning features are employed to ensure that readers fully understand how EU environmental policies have developed over the last fifty years and how they are currently adapting to the rapidly evolving challenges of the twenty-first century, including the COVID-19 pandemic. It is an essential resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying environmental policy and politics, climate change, environmental law and EU politics more broadly

Theoretical Theatre: harnessing the power of comedy to teach social science theory

Role playing is increasingly used in European Studies and political science, to foster students’ understanding of social science theories. Generally, role playing is only done by students. Not so in Theoretical Theatre, a teaching innovation which puts the onus on teachers to act. In our performances, teachers embody competing theories and enact dramatic scenarios in front of, and in collaboration with, their student audience. We explain how we developed Theoretical Theatre and contextualise it in the pedagogical literature of games and simulations, and of Drama In Education. We reflect on our experience of performing across four modules since 2012, and on our students’ feedback, to discuss three key themes emerging from our practice: making theory more interesting and engaging, easier to understand and apply; and changing classroom dynamics and engagement. We outline the challenges and opportunities in sustaining this teaching method and transferring it to other settings and disciplines

Quitter la PAC, comment et pour quoi faire ? La (re)construction des politiques agricoles britanniques au cœur des turbulences du Brexit

Cet article explore l’impact du Brexit, conceptualisé en tant que série de turbulences environnementales, organisationnelles et scalaires, sur les politiques agricoles britanniques. Il s’intéresse à la façon dont les quatre administrations britanniques ont répondu aux défis et opportunités du Brexit en deux études de cas (aides financières et minima réglementaires) et analyse les conséquences de ces choix sur la légitimité politique, angle mort des études de turbulence. Quitter la PAC offrait une opportunité de reconstruire les politiques agricoles qui n’a pas été saisie. Non seulement les politiques agricoles proposées restent très proches de la PAC (échec de légitimité output), mais le processus décisionnel a attisé les tensions entre les quatre nations et perdu le soutien des syndicats agricoles et des environnementalistes, sapant la légitimité input et throughput du gouvernement britannique