Chapter 24 Answer guidance

Q7) What challenges are EU environmental policy-makers likely to face in the future?

See section 24.4

  • Environmental policy-makers are likely to face four challenges in the future:
  • 1) Improving integration
    • Achieving cross-sectoral policy coordination (integration) in a multilevel system where some sectors are unwilling to ‘green’ their activities
    • This is particularly difficult during a period of economic downturn.
  • 2) Strengthening implementation
    • Addressing the gap between policy and implementation, especially given the EU’s weak monitoring and enforcement mechanisms
  • 3) Coping with enlargement
    • Enlargement includes many large and less economically developed countries.
    • Some newer member states have sometimes acted as a ‘negotiating block’ against higher standards.
  • 4) Enlarging the toolbox
    • Enlarging the environmental policy toolbox as there has been mixed success with newer policy instruments
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