The Europeanisation of air and water pollution control

Environmental policy has become an increasingly important area of European Union (EU) policy-making and the source of political conflict between Britain and Germany. This book explains why national conflicts have arisen and how they are resolved at EU level by focusing on the Europeanisation of air and water pollution control in particular.

Wurzel argues that Anglo-German divergences are best explained in terms of ecological vulnerability, economic cost and capacity, political salience and environmental regulatory styles. Focusing on two very important and media-exploitable issues - car emissions and bathing water regulation - this book challenges the conventional wisdom that Britain has shown a clear preference for environmental quality objectives while Germany championed uniform emission limits. Acceptance of the concept of ecological modernisation plays a vital role in the adoption of more progressive environmental standards.

This book is relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6, Clean water and sanitation

Part I: British and German environmental policy in Europe
1. Environmental pressures and regulatory styles
2. Theorising multilevel European Union policy-making
3. The European Union environmental governance system
Part II: Car emission regulation
4. The origins of car emission regulation
5. The catalytic converter versus the lean-burn engine controversy
6. The auto-oil programmes
Part III: Bathing water protection
7. The origins of bathing water regulation
8. Implementation and sewage treatment policies
9. The revision process and bathing water science
Conclusion

Author

Rudiger K.W. Wurzel is Jean Monnet Chair in European Union Studies and Senior Lecturer at the University of Hull where he is Director of the Centre of European Union Studies