Environmental policy-making in Britain, Germany and the European Union2002

"Environmental policy has become an increasingly important area of European Union 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 regulationthis 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." "The empirical findings are based on unpublished material and more than one hundred interviews with former government ministers, EU Commissioners, senior officials, Members of the European Parliament as well as industry and NGO representatives."--BOOK JACKET.