TY - JOUR
T1 - The challenge of implementing European Union environmental law in the new member states
T2 - The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive in the Czech Republic and Poland
AU - Marek, Dan
AU - Baun, Michael
AU - Dąbrowski, Marcin
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - This article examines the problematic implementation of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD) in the Czech Republic and Poland from the perspective of the scholarly debate on European Union (EU) and post-accession compliance, focusing on the competing ‘goodness of fit’ and administrative-legal approaches to explaining variations in compliance with EU rules. It finds that administrative shortcomings of various kinds are a major reason for implementation problems in both countries, and that problems have also stemmed from the multilevel nature of the implementation process, which places a heavy administrative and financial burden on municipalities, and requires cooperation between national and local government authorities. In the Czech case, however, the ‘misfit’ between EU standards and contracting and regulatory practices in the Czech water sector has also undermined UWWTD compliance, through its negative impact on the country's ability to access EU funding.
AB - This article examines the problematic implementation of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD) in the Czech Republic and Poland from the perspective of the scholarly debate on European Union (EU) and post-accession compliance, focusing on the competing ‘goodness of fit’ and administrative-legal approaches to explaining variations in compliance with EU rules. It finds that administrative shortcomings of various kinds are a major reason for implementation problems in both countries, and that problems have also stemmed from the multilevel nature of the implementation process, which places a heavy administrative and financial burden on municipalities, and requires cooperation between national and local government authorities. In the Czech case, however, the ‘misfit’ between EU standards and contracting and regulatory practices in the Czech water sector has also undermined UWWTD compliance, through its negative impact on the country's ability to access EU funding.
KW - environmental policy
KW - European Union
KW - post-accession compliance
KW - Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85028074328&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0263774X16686071
DO - 10.1177/0263774X16686071
M3 - Article
SN - 2399-6544
VL - 35
SP - 1117
EP - 1135
JO - Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space
JF - Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space
IS - 6
ER -