The Voluntary Approach to Environmental Policy

Voluntary agreements and other approaches based on co-operation between public authorities and (agro) industrial polluters are rapidly gaining importance throughout Europe. This so-called Joint Environmental Policy-making (JEP) is increasingly being presented as a 'third way', alongside direct regulation through laws and the use of financial sticks and carrots in the form of eco-taxes and subsidies. Successes and failures are reported from JEP experiences in various European countries.

This book seeks to evaluate these experiences. Is JEP really the panacea it is sometimes claimed to be? To what extent does JEP actually fit into different national policy systems and cultures? Is the application of JEP dependant on specific circumstances? In answering these and other questions, the book focuses on the forces and institutional conditions that are likely to promote the introduction, determine the form, and contribute to the successful functioning of JEP arrangements. Against the background of both deregulation and ecological modernization tendencies in European environmental policy, this book offers detailed analysis of JEP in three European countries (Austria, Denmark, and the Netherlands) and in three areas: industrial energy efficiency, food labelling, and package waste.

The volume contributes to a better understanding of JEP in Europe and formulates policy recommendations for its successful implementation. But it also contributes to comparative environmental policy studies in providing an innovative approach.