Book Description

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 9/A+, University of Twente, course: European Environmental Law, 9 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Even though most of the legal framework with respect to environmental protection is still heavily determined by traditional regulation, political decision makers in Europe have come to the conclusion that there is a need for innovative instruments. This has made possible one of the latest developments in European legal-political systems: the emergence of new environmental policy instruments, often referred to as NEPIs. In the following work a specific type - voluntary agreements (VAs) - shall be discussed. Hence, this work will by no means cover the entire issue of NEPIs. The reason for choosing VAs is the ongoing discussion and the relevance for our times. Media coverage has been particularly extensive in the case of failure as recently seen in the agreement between the European Commission and the European automobile industry. The increasing use of those agreements gives rise to new questions. Here, the centre of discussion will be whether the European Union would be well advised to opt for greater focus on VAs or not. In addition, implications of voluntary agreements on the Community level shall be addressed. It is therefore necessary to discuss issues of design as well as effectiveness. In the following, an introduction to VAs presenting the current state of affairs in Europe shall lay the fundament for discussion. This entails a clear description of the different types of VAs that are currently in effect. Moreover, by means of the so-called ACEA agreement the feasibility of VAs in general will be discussed. A look back may be worthwhile to clearly determine whether this new policy regime is to be developed further or abolished altogether.