European Discourses On Environmental Policy

First published in 1999, this volume contributed to the debate on the European Union in furthering the study of environmental policy and, expressly, by introducing promising young scholars to the debate. The volume is based on a series of seminars for the Interdisciplinary Research Network on Environment and Safety (IRNES) with funding from the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). These new scholars explore areas including post-decisional politics, sustainability and agricultural biotechnology regulation.

First published in 1999, this volume contributed to the debate on the European Union in furthering the study of environmental policy and, expressly, by introducing promising young scholars to the debate. The volume is based on a series of seminars for the Interdisciplinary Research Network on Environment and Safety (IRNES) with funding from the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). These new scholars explore areas including post-decisional politics, sustainability and agricultural biotechnology regulation.

`Europe is sometimes credited with a `polis,' but not a `demos'. Political integration and economic globalisation cannot diminish local identity and social memories. This fascinating collection of national case studies shows why there will always be a local `demos' located in ecology, economy, and society. But there will never be a transnational `demos', precisely because locality is the basis for meaningful sustainability. Long may it triumph.' Tim O'Riordan, CSERGE, University of East Anglia 'The book offers a refreshing perspective on the diversity of Europe and at the same time, on the interdependence of the policies, economies, and societies of European countries. Going beyond the dichotomies of `good and bad' and `leaders and laggards' in environmental matters, the authors contribute to a different understanding of the North-South divide in the process of European integration.' Angela Liberatore, European Commission, Directorate General for Research `This is a self-consciously revisionist volume, whose findings are theoretically significant, policy-relevant, and timely. Its insistence on `bringing society back in,' its debunking of the notion of a `Mediterranean syndrome,' its emphasis on developmental `leapfrogging' capacity of late-comers to emerge as leaders in contexts of late modernity, and its systematic attempt to reconceptualize the politics of Europeanization should be carefully listed to students and policy-makers concerned with collective action, Southern Europe, European integration, and environmental politics.' P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, University of Athens

This book analyses the evolution of the sustainability discourse in the European Union, exploring the conditions necessary for sustainable development to move from a conceptual model into a model for action for strategic decision makers at all levels of governance. This book questions the extent to which the discourse on sustainability has become embedded into governance structures in Europe. It focuses on the importance of the nature of the language of the political discourse on sustainability and how ideas are communicated amongst the actors and stakeholders in the policy making process, as well as assessing the conceptual, political, institutional and operational barriers apparent across the European geographic region. Drawing case studies from numerous policy areas including climate change, EU emissions trading scheme, renewable energy, nuclear energy, the European integrated energy market, transport mobility, and environmental protection, expert contributors unveil a narrowing of the discourse on sustainability that has taken place in Europe. However, a considerable discontinuity remains between the economic and environmental objectives of sustainable development, and the authors argue that it is essential that conditions for a dynamic discourse, open to multiple participants, are developed. Sustainable Development and Governance in Europe will be of strong interest to students and scholars of comparative politics, governance, sustainable development and environmental politics and studies.

This second and fully revised edition brings together some of the most influential work on the theory and practice of contemporary EU environmental policy. Comprising five comprehensive parts, it includes in-depth case studies of contemporary policy issues such as climate change, genetically modified organisms and trans-Atlantic relations, as well as an assessment of how well the EU is responding to new challenges such as enlargement, environmental policy integration and sustainability. The book's aim is to look forward and ask whether the EU is prepared or even able to respond to the 'new' governance challenges posed by the perceived need to use 'new' policy instruments and processes to 'mainstream' environmental thinking in all EU policy sectors.

Prior to the European Union (EU) 2004/2007 enlargement there were several predictions that this event would hamper progressive decision-making within the EU on environmental policy. It was believed that the new member states had adopted EU rules as a consequence of the EU's conditionality and consequently they would rather slow down the reform speed in the field after accession. In this book, Mats Braun offers an up-to-date account of how post-communist member states have handled policy initiatives in the field of environmental policy after accession. Using detailed case studies of how Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania dealt with two different EU policy initiatives - REACH and the Climate-Energy Package - he explores whether social norms and the process of socialization can help us understand why the track record of new member states in the area of environmental policy is more varied than was originally envisaged prior to enlargement.

This book examines issues of censorship, publicity and teenage fandom in 1950s Britain surrounding a series of controversial Hollywood films: The Wild One, Blackboard Jungle, Rebel Without a Cause, Rock Around the Clock and Jailhouse Rock. It also explores British cinema's commentary on juvenile delinquency through a re-examination of such British films as The Blue Lamp, Spare the Rod and Serious Charge. Taking a multi-dimensional approach, the book intersects with star studies and social history while reappraising the stardom of Marlon Brando, James Dean and Elvis Presley. By looking at the specific meanings, pleasures and uses British fans derived from these films, it provides a logical and sustained narrative for how Hollywood star images fed into and disrupted British cultural life during a period of unprecedented teenage consumerism.

This book examines the development of a European environmental conscience through successive steps of European integration in energy policy. In the 1960s-70s, the world was slowly beginning to realise that environment degradation was not sustainable. With phenomena such as acid rain, it became clear that pollution did not stop at national boundaries and the European environmental conscience developed in parallel to such growing environmental concerns. The oil crisis in 1973 was a turning point in the integration process for both energy policy and environment policy, and while further integration towards the European energy policy failed; the environmental policies took shape in measures such as energy saving. The Commission incorporated both energy and environmental policies into the EU policy canon and built an institutional framework, responding to the insufficiency of national policy answers and the developing environmental conscience of the European people. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of European Integration, European Union politics and history and environmental politics and policy.