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Mainstream analyses have often understood environmental effectiveness as a consequence of the shape of interests and policymaking, and have tested their models through statistical techniques. Results have, however, proved quite erratic. It is argued that these weaknesses reflect a misconception about causality, thus highlighting the need for a shift in both model and method. A different model is therefore developed that explains effectiveness through policy tools and ideas. The model is then applied to the performances of the EU15 member states in mid-2000s, and assessed using Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Cases are polarised around two classic cleavages (‘environmentalists’ vs. ‘productivists’, and ‘pro-marketers’ vs. ‘protectionists’), but give evidence that all the related tool mixes are able to deliver – while the relevant difference between leaders and laggards lies in the use of evaluation devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution focuses on the limits of European Union programmes and accession practices on environmental policies and performance in Central and Eastern Europe. In particular, we document some of the ways in which state socialist and post-socialist environmental conditions, practices and policies are shaping, and in turn being shaped by, the path of accession and integration. We focus on the diverse and changing patterns of air, water and soil quality in Central and Eastern Europe, the contested nature of new environmental policies, the environmental consequences of economic change, and the sustainability of emerging environmental regimes. The contribution concludes with several questions about the consequences of new state membership for future EU environmental policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the impact of European Community accession on the environmental non-governmental organisations (NGO) and environmental advocacy groups in Central European countries. Efforts of environmental NGO in Central and Eastern Europe to promote environmental protection; Information on environmental laws and institutions created in Central Europe before and after 1989; Directives concerning the environment imposed by the European Union in order to be a member of the union.

The EU has transformed environmental policymaking for the states of Europe. In many environmental policy areas the EU now plays an international leadership role. How will the planned accession of ten Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, where environmental capacity is still weak and environmental problems are serious, affect environmental policymaking within the EU? This contribution seeks to answer this question from a comparative perspective by looking at past cases of accession to the EU, with particular attention to the accession of the southern European states that are economically less well off than their northern neighbours and where environmental protection has a weaker tradition in national policy. It argues that a variety of changes to EU institutions and norms have helped to strengthen the EU's capacity to protect the environment, mitigate against moves towards the least common denominator, and aid weaker states in coming into compliance with EU regulations. Particularly important in this regard are the influence of the relatively strong and increasingly widespread voices of environmental advocates in Europe, the greater variety of environmental policy instruments available to member states that should make implementation more flexible and cost-effective, institutional reform that has addressed the EU's 'democratic deficit', and the importance that environment has taken on as an arena for foreign policy leadership by the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central and East European (CEE) states are implementing sweeping environmental policy reforms as they gain EU membership. This concluding chapter draws attention to key arguments in the volume and elaborates on four key themes that enrich conventional notions about Europeanisation and challenge prevailing views about the impacts that CEE states are having on environmental quality in an enlarged EU: the importance of capacity limitations and efforts to address them, the pesence of mixed messages and conflicting EU priorities, the importance of non-state actors, and the need for multi-directional exchange of ideas and information. These themes suggest, among other things, that EU officials and programs are capable of greatly improving some areas of environmental policy in CEE countries even as they make some areas of policy and societal behaviour less sustainable. This essay includes discussions of some possible ramifications of a larger EU for global environmental governance and some lessons from the 2004 enlargement that may inform understanding of future rounds of EU expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution addresses questions regarding the future of European environmental policy after the EU has been enlarged to include a number of Central and Eastern European countries. The existing literature, based mainly on EU-related 'top-down' variables such as status of harmonisation, availability of pre-accession funds, and future Council voting dynamics, predicts a largely negative impact of enlargement for progressive environmental policy. However, based on extensive survey data from within the candidate countries, this contribution asserts that this prediction should be qualified. It was also found that current theories in respect of national integration deal poorly with such 'bottom-up' perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution examines what joining the European Union implies for Hungary's waste policies and waste practices. After providing a short overview of waste policies under state socialism, I analyse the differences between the waste structure and waste practices of Hungary and the EU. Using interviews and document analysis, this contribution demonstrates that the EU has been sending mixed messages to Hungary. On the one hand, it demands preventative waste policies; on the other hand, it promotes end-of-pipe technologies through aid, temporary exemptions, and EU-constituent corporations that enter the Hungarian market. Overall, compared to the state socialist past, the European Union represents a certain regression to the extent that waste-prevention and recovery are ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the challenges that the candidate countries in Central and Eastern Europe must address in order to fulfill the environmental policy requirements of the European Union. Fiscal challenge; Administrative challenge; Environmental challenge; Democratic deficit challenge.

Discusses some of the accomplishments and challenges faced by Czech Republic in complying with European Union environmental protection law. Changes in Czech environmental legislation since 1990; Reasons explaining why implementation of Community law remains a demanding and challenging exercise in the Czech Republic; Types of jurisdictions concerning environmental protection entrusted to the European Court of Justice by the 1956 Treaty of Rome.

Discusses the possible implications of eastern Europe enlargement for European Union (EU) environmental policy from the applicant states' perspective based on the four Visegrád countries (V4). Domestic factors that influence the approach of V4 countries to EU environmental policy; Environmental policy institution relevant to EU accession according to experts interviewed in V4 and EU countries; Information on V4 international environmental strategies.