"Agenda setting in European Union environmental policy: Commission 'management' of industry associations"

Jozwiak, Joseph F. (2001) "Agenda setting in European Union environmental policy: Commission 'management' of industry associations" . In European Union Studies Association (EUSA) > Biennial Conference > 2001 (7th), May 31-June 2, 2001, Madison, Wisconsin.

Abstract

The paper will examine the above-mentioned cases, the waste packaging directive, the end-of-life vehicles directive and proposed directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment. The paper acknowledges that the Commission relies heavily upon the contributions of industrial associations and large firms in the construction of directives and that the Commission actively seeks to build transnational alliances with industrial organizations. But I will argue that the Commission has the ability to play upon internal divisions in these industry associations which allows it to put forward environmental directives that place significant burdens on the members of these associations. The paper will first turn to the theoretical debate surrounding the Commission as a policy entrepreneur and agenda setter, with special consideration given to the relationship between the commission preferences, formulated by an amalgam of action programs, directives, studies and reviews. This paper will then turn to an analysis of the three cases, suggesting that the Commission is able to provide an "upgrade of the common interests" through its agenda setting powers. Finally, a conclusion that argues the Commission is engaged in a process of integration through small steps. Innocuous items such as plastic wrapping, plastic car bumpers, and circuit boards from cell phones have been used by the Commission to further its supranational aims.