First draft. Comments and Suggestions Most Welcome!!!






Regulatory Effects of Participatory Environmental Networks? 
The case of the 'Seville Process' 




Charalampos Koutalakis


Paper prepared for the EUSA 9th Biennial International Conference, 
Austin, Texas March 31 – April 2, 2005, Panel 05G Governance, 
Networks and Environmental Policy






Senior Research Fellow
Chair of European Studies
Otto Suhr Institut for Political Science
Free University Berlin
Ihnestr. 22
Berlin 14195
Germany




Tel: + 49 (0) 30 838  53252
Fax: + 49 (0) 30 838 55049
Email: koutalak@zedat.fu-berlin.de
http://www.polwiss.fu-berlin.de/projekte/koutalakis/





Introduction

In recent years much of the debate on the future of EU integration concentrates on the 
enhancement of effectiveness and efficiency of regulatory policy making. Compliance deficits 
with EU legislation, slow legislative processes, deadlocks and the increasing diversity of the 
EU are, epigrammatically, the main caveats that justify the growing quest for novel modes of 
governance that depart from traditional command-and-control uniformly binding regulatory 
approaches. New modes of governance cover a wide range of different policy processes such 
as the open method of coordination, voluntary accords, standard setting, delegation to 
regulatory networks and agencies, regulation 'through information', benchmarking, peer 
review, informal agreements, as well as forms of policy experimentation in different 
economic sectors, where a new mix of public and private goods is aimed at (e.g., Héritier, 
2003). They are characterized by the principles of voluntarism (i.e., non-binding targets, soft 
law), subsidiarity (i.e., the delegation of decision-making competencies to member states or 
private actors), and inclusion (i.e. the participation of all relevant actors in the decision-
making process). These "modes of political steering concern both rule-setting and rule-
implementation processes including ensuring compliance with international norms" (Börzel, 
2002). Since new modes of governance represent an alternative to regulatory requirements 
(i.e., 'hard law'), they are expected to facilitate consensual decision-making by minimizing 
resistance of decision makers and implementing actors as regulatory adjustment costs remain 
low (Héritier 2001: 9). Consequently, new modes of governance are expected to be politically 
more efficient and more effective (e.g., Héritier 2003; Jachtenfuchs 2001; Kohler-
Koch/Eising 1999). 

From the end of 1980s onwards environmental policy is an area of intense experimentation 
with such novel regulatory approaches. Literature offers an abundance of explanatory factors 
that contributed to the proliferation of new, less impositional, market-based policy 
instruments both at EU level and individual member states (Collier, 1998; Golub, 1998, 
Jordan et al. 2003a; 2003b; Lenschow, 2002; Golup, 1998; Knill/Lenschow, 1999). However, 
little attention has been drawn to regulatory networks, their performance and regulatory 
effects in terms of policy outcomes. The aim of this paper is to explore theoretically driven 
hypotheses from literature on new modes of governance and delegation to regulatory 
networks in order to identify the main institutional properties that enhance efficiency and 
effectiveness in policy formulation and implementation. To explore our research questions we 
proceed as follows: First, we recapitulate the theoretical work on delegation to regulatory 
networks and non-hierarchical steering modes as specific facets of new modes of governance 
in environmental policies. Second, we analyse the experience from the Integrated Pollution 
Prevention and Control (IPPC) network(s) organised under the auspices of the IPPC Bureau in 
Seville in order to assess the scope and effects of delegating regulatory competencies to 
participatory networks. The IPPC Directive (96/61) introduces significant innovations in EU 
environmental policies. It is the first time that EU environmental policies depart from media-
specific regulatory approaches to pollution abatement by introducing an integrated approach 
that incorporates a single permit system covering all pollutant activities of industry, in waters, 
air, and land. These permits are to be based on 'Best Available Techniques' (BAT). The 
definition of BAT is delegated to ad-hoc co-regulatory sectoral and sub-sectoral networks that 
comprise the Commission, the member states, enterprise associations, individual firms, 
environmental organisations, research institutes, universities, national and EU regulatory 
agencies. These networks operate under the auspices of a European IPPC Bureau (EIPPCB) in 
Seville. 

The analysis of the so-called 'Seville process' seeks to assess the regulatory effects of such 
participatory structures of policy making. The analysis focuses on two fundamental 
institutional properties of regulatory networks that are considered by the literature as catalysts 
for the enhancement of effectiveness and efficiency in regulatory policy making. First, we 
account for the actor dimension, namely the regulatory effects of inclusive networks of all 
affected interests (firms, private interest groups and non-governmental organizations, national 
and European agencies and national civil servants). Is a participatory structure more effective 
than the classical legislative process in reducing potential conflicts at the stage of policy 
implementation? Is there any trade off between efficiency and legitimacy? Second, we assess 
the effects of non-hierarchical steering modes prevailing in the decision making process 
between network participants. Much of our current understanding of the dynamics of 
transnational regulatory policy making is based on theories of regulatory competition and 
notions of races to the top or bottom of regulatory spectrums in different policy areas 
(Radaelli, 2004; Holzinger and Knill 2004). Regulatory competition between environmentally 
advanced EU member states that actively seek to upload their regulatory models at the EU 
and laggards that rarely succeed to influence EU policy developments amplifies existing 
disparities between member states. In light of the enormous economic, political and 
administrative disparities between new and old EU member states we raise the question as to 
which extent regulatory networks facilitate a smoother adoption of and adaptation to costly 
EU environmental legislation. To what extent do learning, persuasion and the diffusion of best 
regulatory practices facilitated by regulatory networks lead to policy outcomes that differ 
significantly from those stemming from traditional steering modes based on bargaining and 
imposition? In other words, can new forms of governance reduce the influence of conflicting 
national interests over the level of environmental regulatory standards especially in areas that 
entail significant investments in physical and institutional infrastructure? Are they more 
efficient in facilitating rapid regulatory responses to technological innovations in the area of 
pollution abatement? What is their degree of effectiveness in achieving the stated objectives 
of IPPC Directive, namely a high level of environmental protection through the diffusion of 
BAT for pollution abatement, and what is the nature of regulatory outcomes in the policy 
area? 

Why delegate? Dimensions of new modes of governance

In its White Paper on Governance, the European Commission attributes an important role to 
agencies and regulatory networks for the better application of EU rules (European 
Commission (2001: 23f). The bulk of the literature on delegation focuses on the driving forces 
that condition the incentives of political actors to delegate policy making competencies to 
independent regulatory agencies and/or regulatory networks operating under their auspices, 
their institutional design and the consequences of delegation for democratic accountably and 
control. Rational choice approaches conceptualise delegation to IRAs as a response to 
powerful functional pressures emanating from the expansion of the regulatory role of the state 
as a distinctive mode of social coordination (Majone, 1994; 1997a). The principal/agent 
framework that dominates studies of delegation to non-majoritarian institutions, stresses four 
common explanations why delegation to independent regulatory agencies or networks might 
be beneficial for political efficiency. First, delegation is used to reduce political transaction 
costs emerging at the stage of negotiation between political actors (cf. Epstein/O'Halloran 
2000; Héritier 2003: 203). Second, delegation to specialized bodies is expected to facilitate 
policy continuity given the complexity of socio-economic phenomena, the acceleration of 
scientific and technological developments and the growth of international interdependence. 
Everson et al. (1999: 21) indicate that "a reason for proposing the creation of European 
agencies in several areas of economic and social regulation is the perception of EU citizens 
and economic actors alike, that the present system – with its heavy concentration on rule-
making and its weak control of the enforcement process – is no longer able to cope with the 
regulatory challenges of global markets". The high collective stakes attached to these 
challenges demand continuity of public action which is not always achieved by political 
actors because of short-term electoral constraints (Majone 2001; 1997b). Third, the increasing 
technical and scientific complexity of many regulatory issues has led to the establishment of 
agencies and public/private networks which contribute expertise in these substantive matters 
(Héritier 2003: 203). Mobilization of all knowledge relevant to public decision-making 
requires a stable relational context among peers that minimizes bureaucratic or political bias 
during deliberations (Moe 1990; 1995). Such a framework is hard to find within public 
administrations. Finally, agencies and regulatory networks may pave the way for a closer 
incorporation of civil society into governmental institutions. Everson et al. (1999: 32) argue 
that separateness from government may make them a preferred mechanism for co-opting 
certain groups into the decision-making process. Thus, agencies and networks function as 
intermediary institutions between state and civil society. Additionally, as depoliticized bodies 
eager to improve their own public reputation, agencies and regulatory networks contribute 
credibility and reliability as well as public confidence in regulatory processes and outcomes 
(Pollack 1997). 

Cross – media pollution prevention policies concentrate all the above functional pressures that 
encourage political actors to seek alternative to traditional legislation steering modes in policy 
formulation and implementation. Available technology enables or constrains policy options, 
especially regarding the stringency of environmental standards and the instruments of 
monitoring and enforcement. The generation and diffusion of new technologies across a wide 
spectrum of sectoral economic activities requires rapid regulatory responses that enhance 
learning capacities and diffusion in those economic sectors and countries with weak economic 
and knowledge resource base. Knowledge gaps and uncertainties regarding the causes of 
environmental damage, its real dimensions and the effective remedies require stable 
continuous interaction between policy makers, economic actors and epistemic communities. 
Diverse ecologic conditions within the EU render the adoption of uniform pollution 
abatement standards ineffective. Variations in the absorption capacities of different 
geographical areas result in significant regulatory distortions with considerable economic 
effects between different polluting activities (Holzinger 1999). Moreover, in contrast to 
product standards, economic actors, especially from member states with comparatively weak 
environmental regulatory regimes may, in the short term, face strong disincentives to comply 
with environmental process standards that reduce their competitiveness (Sharpf, 1994). As a 
result, the adoption of environmental standards and the definition of procedural requirements 
for their implementation have triggered intense competitive pressures between EU member 
states seeking to avoid high adjustment costs by uploading their domestic regulatory models 
and traditions at the EU level.  Given the persistent economic disparities between EU member 
states and the scale of required administrative adjustments and financial investments, 
regulatory competition has generated a leaders/laggards dynamics in EU environmental 
policies (Börzel, 2003). The accession of southern European member states (Greece 1981 and 
Spain and Portugal 1986) with weak institutional and administrative capacities and limited or 
even no prior experience in pro-active environmental policies, coupled with an acceleration of 
legislative output that followed the launch of the internal market programme have fostered the 
emergence of a deficit in member state compliance with environmental legislation (Börzel 
2003; Mendrinou 1996; Tallberg 1999). The same holds for the recent eastern enlargement. 
As latecomers to the EU, the CEECs face two serious problems regarding the adoption of EU 
legislation. First, they never had the possibility to influence European regulation according to 
their preferences and policy traditions. Second, they often lack adequate institutional 
structures and capacities to effectively implement and enforce European regulations. This 
double disadvantage for European latecomers has led to concerns in the new member 
countries about the full implementation of all EU environmental directives (Baker, 2000; 
Carius et. al. 2000; Homeyer, 2004). Wide disparities between domestic economic and 
administrative capacities highlight the limits to the harmonization approach. 
Compliance problems point to a fundamental paradox in the current EU regulatory regime. 
The substantial expansion of EU's regulatory competencies from the 1980s onwards has not 
been accompanied neither by a parallel expansion of the EU's own implementing structures 
nor by potent enforcement and monitoring capacities. The Commission's DG Environment 
has rather weak monitoring and enforcement capacities compared to other Directorates 
General, such as DG Competition (Macrory 1996). The Commission's access to information 
regarding member states' compliance performance depends on a rather weak system that 
involves three main alerting mechanisms: complaints by citizens, business, environmental 
NGOs, the Commission's own investigations, and petitions and questions by the European 
Parliament (Koutalakis 2004). Given the dependency of the Commission on domestic 
administrations and private actors that are rarely granted institutionalised opportunities to 
participate in the decision making process, their systematic inclusion into the policy process 
seems to provide a viable alternative to the legislative process. The creation of regulatory 
networks and forums that facilitate exchange of experience, learning and diffusion of best 
practices between public and private stakeholders reduces the regulatory gap that stems from 
the unequal distribution of 'say' and 'pay' in EU multi-level governance (Eberlein and 
Grande 2005; Dehouse, 1997).

The intensity of the functional pressures analysed above determines the Commission's 
preferences on the institutional design of regulatory networks. Principals seeking to maximize 
their influence over policy outcomes, attempt to optimise the equilibrium between delegation 
and control in order to minimize losses from the network's tendency to gain political and 
bureaucratic autonomy. The higher the functional pressures experienced by principals in a 
given policy area the more powers they will delegate to regulatory networks and the weaker 
will be the control mechanisms. Institutional design of regulatory networks facilitates or 
hinders certain regulatory policy outcomes. Institutionalist approaches point to two 
fundamental properties of the institutional design of regulatory networks that enhance 
effectiveness and efficiency in policy formulation and implementation. First, they include 
"non-state actors, such as firms, private interest groups, or nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs) in governance arrangements (actor dimension)"; and second they put "an emphasis 
on non-hierarchical modes of steering (steering dimension)" (Risse 2004: 291). In line with 
theories of deliberative democracy it is expected that the more inclusive regulatory networks 
are of diverse interests, the more transparent, effective and efficient will be their policy 
outcomes (Porte and Nanz, 2004). In multi-level systems that manifest high levels of local 
and regional diversity such as the EU, participatory network structures that facilitate 
horizontal coordination and steering between multiple public and private actors are expected 
to strengthen institutional capacity especially in complex problems with cross – border effects 
such as environmental pollution (Heritier, 2002). Non-hierarchical, non-manipulative steering 
modes are, for example, 'arguing' and 'persuasion' instead of 'bargaining', are accomplished 
through a departure from majority rules of decision making (Risse 2004). These institutional 
properties are expected to pave the way to consensual decision making in policies where 
consensus between affected interests is difficult to achieve. Non-majoritarian decision making 
rules and non-hierarchical policy instruments (learning, arguing, persuasion) have greater 
potential to shape domestic actors' initial preferences and compliance incentives since 
implementing actors participate in both the target setting and the selection of policy 
instruments to achieve them (Héritier 2001: 9). In effect, they reduce administrative costs of 
monitoring and enforcement by public bodies since participants are committed to voluntary 
self-regulation. These conditions facilitate learning and the diffusion of best regulatory 
practices especially in conditions of uncertainly regarding both the causes and the optimal 
solutions and technologies to complex problems (Radaelli, 2000). However, the two 
institutional properties identified above (actor and steering dimensions) point to two pertinent 
problems familiar to the collective network action theories. First, the inclusion of all relevant 
actors in regulatory network structures increases the problem of coordination. The 
heterogeneity of decision making arenas in EU environmental policies that embrace product 
standards, production processes and sustainability regulations reduce the likelihood of the 
emergence of a clearly identifiable group of non-state actors (environmental organizations, 
business groups and citizen associations) capable of generating consensual regulatory 
outcomes (Koutalakis and Prange, 2005). Moreover, variations in non-state actors' 
organisational resources (knowledge, expertise and financial resources) to monitor and 
effectively influence policy developments in the definition of environmental technical 
standards, increases the likelihood of network capture by well-resourced actors such as 
individual enterprises and/or industrial associations. Multiplicity and heterogeneity of 
participants' preferences coupled with considerable disparities in the distribution of their 
resources point to the pertinence of effective steering modes, namely rules that regulate 
network interactions and secure durable network functionality. The following sections of the 
paper will systematically approach the regulatory effects of these two institutional properties 
in relation to the IPPC network(s) organised under the auspices of the IPPC Bureau in Seville.

The Seville Process. Effective and efficient?

The IPPC Directive (61/1996) introduces significant policy innovations related to the policy 
content and procedural approaches applied to the adoption of environmental standards, their 
monitoring and implementation.  It is the first time that EU environmental policies depart 
from media-specific regulatory approaches to pollution abatement by introducing an 
integrated approach that incorporates a single permit system covering all pollutant activities 
of industry, water, air, and land and the efficient use of energy. The IPPC directive has 
therefore a strong procedural character. Instead of prescribing harmonised emission limit 
values (ELVs) it provides for co-regulatory processes to identify and diffuse best practices 
and techniques taking into account local environmental, technical and economic conditions.  
Single permits are to be based on BAT defined at sectoral and sub-sectoral level. The new 
permit system applies to installations from October 1999 while for existing ones no later than 
October 2007. Some new member states have been granted additional periods of grace for 
their existing installations that in some cases extend until 2012.  The definition of BAT is 
delegated to ad-hoc co-regulatory sectoral and sub-sectoral Technical Working Groups 
(TWGs). The Directive also provides for an Information Exchange Forum (IEF) that 
comprises representatives of the member states, large associations and the Commission. IEF 
has an overview of the process especially regarding potential impacts of the Directive on 
industrial competitiveness and employment and agrees on the thematic areas covered by 
TWGs. TWGs are designed to comprise a large number of actors such as the Commission, 
representatives from member state governments, enterprise associations, individual firms, 
environmental organisations, research institutes, universities, national and EU environmental 
agencies. These networks operate under the auspices of an EIPPCB in Seville that serves as 
the network coordinator/facilitator. They facilitate the diffusion of information on BAT based 
on benchmarking of best practices defined in periodically issued and updated Best Available 
Technology Reference Documents (BREFs). BREFs have no binding character. They rather 
serve as the indicative basis for the adoption of ELVs to be included in single permits issued 
for each industrial installation covered by the directive by national permitting authorities. 
Decentralised permitting system allows considerable leverage to domestic authorities to 
interpret BAT and define ELVs according to local environmental and geographical conditions 
as well as the technical characteristics of the installation. The Commission's role in the 
process of applying BAT requirements by the member states is threefold. First, it retains the 
discretion to intervene and alter the contents of BERFs especially in cases where the 
application of agreed BAT-based ELVs has a negative impact on the competitiveness of 
industrial sector or employment. Second, the Commission retains the competence to introduce 
harmonised ELVs when a need for harmonization is identified. Third, the Commission 
monitors the compatibility of national ELVs with those broadly defined in the BERF 
documents. It retains its enforcement powers (art. 226 TEU) in cases where the former 
significantly depart from lower ceilings included in the BERFs. It is still early to identify 
whether the Commission's ultimate discretion over the definition of BAT and the application 
of BAT-based ELVs functions as an element of 'shadow of hierarchy' in the policy process. 
The technical nature of BREFs and the lack of technical expertise on the part of the 
Commission to evaluate the compatibility of adopted BAT-based ELVs with broad 
environmental objectives denote the considerable policy relevance of TWG workings. The 
following sessions will approach the nature of regulatory policy making in the framework of 
EIPPC TWGs by focusing on two fundamental institutional properties, namely, the 
constellation of actors and the steering modes governing their interaction.  

a)	The actor dimension
Since their establishment in 1996 the EIPPCB TWGs have attracted the attention of a wide 
range of public and private actors from different countries and industrial sectors. In the first 
eight years of their operation thirty three (33) BREFs were discussed. These cover a wide 
variety of policy sectors and 'horizontal' activities such as energy efficiency, waste treatments 
(recovery and disposal activities), monitoring systems and economic cross media issues.  
Information provided by the EIPPCB regarding the participants in various TWGs refers to a 
total number of 2027 public and private actors (Figure 1).  Our analysis accounts for both the 
territorial and functional dimensions of participation in the TWGs by accounting for their 
national composition and type of actors participating in the process.
As for the territorial dimension of participation we account for two indicators. First, the 
number of participants in relation to population size of each member state. However, this 
indicator is to a certain degree misleading since it does not capture the significance of 
participation of actors from different member states. In order to provide an account the 
incentives of domestic to participate in the Seville process, we therefore introduce a second 
indicator, namely the percentage of industrial facilities in each country that exceed emission 
thresholds specified in IPPC Directive. National permitting authorities are obliged to report 
these emissions to a European Pollution Emission Register (EPER).  The argument is 
straightforward: the higher the percentage of IPPC industrial plants in a member state that 
report emissions to the EPER (i.e. emissions higher than the IPPC thresholds), the higher the 
incentives of domestic actors are to participate in the process. Participation facilitates not only 
transfer of experience and expertise on available technological solutions to pollution 
abatement but it also safeguards the interests of domestic industry and averts potential BAT 
definitions that raise insurmountable adjustment costs. The following figure provides an 
overview of data on national participation rates, population and IPPC industrial plants 
exceeding these in each member state. 
 









Figure 1. National composition of EIIPCB TWGs   
 

Sources: Own elaboration based on information provided by the EIPPCB 
(http://eippcb.jrc.es/pages/FActivities.htm). Data on EPER facilities from 
European Pollutant Emission Register, 2004 Review, Final Report available at 
http://eper.cec.eu.int/eper/documents/EPER%20Review%20report,%20final.pdf, 
p.45. Data on IPPC facilities from European Commission, DG Environment, 
Analysis of Member States' first implementation reports on the IPPC Directive 
(EU 15), June 2004.



Data presented in Figure 1 (see also Figure I, Appendix I) demonstrates that overall national 
participation to EIPPCB workings tends to be rather balanced.  Participation rates from 
member states with a percentage of industrial plants reporting emissions higher than the IPPC 
thresholds (above the EU average 20.9%) are considerably higher than mere population 
criteria would suggest. These are the cases of Austria, Portugal, Finland, Greece, Belgium and 
Germany. Only the UK's, Ireland's and Spain's (all with figures of highly emitting industrial 
plants above the EU average) national participation rates are significantly lower than their 
expected participation considering population size. Low emitting member states also manifest 
positive relation of national participation rates to population size. This is the case of Sweden, 
Netherlands and Denmark. Only Italy's and France's (both with figures of highly emitting 
industrial plants lower than the EU average) national participation rates are below the 
expected considering their population size. Finally, participation of the CEECs with an overall 
rate of 5% of participants, although not particularly high considering the gravity of pollution 
problems due to outdated industrial infrastructure, it is significant since it has started long 
before their actual accession to the EU. New member states participate in sixteen out of thirty 
three TWGs that have started their workings after 2001.  Their participation raises important 
questions regarding the effectiveness of the Seville process to facilitate a smooth adoption and 
adaptation of the new member states to the IPPC requirements. 
On the contrary, an analysis of the functional composition of TWGs reveals much higher 
imbalances than the territorial one (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Functional composition of EIPPC TWGs.  
 
The vast majority of actors participating in the EIPPCB TWGs are national government 
representatives (44.4%). The latter together with Commission representatives (6.3%) account 
for approximately half of participants. Individual firms with 19.7% and industrial associations 
with 18.4% are the second major category of participants. Research institutes with 8.7% and 
ENGOs are the types of actors with the lowest participation in the TWG workings. 
Availability of control data allows only comparisons between the participation rates of 
individual firms as a proportion of IPPC and high polluting (EPER) facilities in each member 
state. According to our estimations only 0.8% percent of IPPC facilities and 3.9% of high 
polluting facilities registered to EPER participate directly to EIPPCB TWGs (see Figure II, 
Appendix I). National participating rates of individual firms are evenly distributed with the 
exception of Greece that manifests significantly higher levels of participation with 11.4% of 
IPPC and 45.1% EPER facilities respectively. Dutch with 16.3% and Belgian with 16.3% of 
individual firms also score high rates of participation as a percentage to domestic facilities 
registered to EPER. 
On the contrary industrial associations manifest more uneven distribution of participation 
(Figure 3).
Figure 3. Participation rates of Industrial Associations 
 
 The most notable outcome of our analysis regarding national participation rates of industrial 
associations is that almost half (48.5%) of participants in that category claim to represent 
industrial sectors at the EU level. The higher participation rates are attributed to industrial 
associations from Spain with 10.7%, Germany with 9.7%, Italy with 7.2%, France with 5.4% 
and Greece with 3.2%. The rest of the member states score considerably lower rates of 
participation than the above five countries (see Figure III, Appendix I).
Research institutes' national participation rates also manifest a similar uneven pattern to the 
one identified above.
Figure 4. Participation rates of Research Institutes 
  
Only Italian with 29.5%, Spanish with 13.1% and German with 11.9% research institutes 
score notable rates of participation to the EIPPCB TWGs. The rest of the member states score 
participation rates much below the three countries mentioned above. An exception this pattern 
is participation of research institutes from the CEECs. In this category CEECs with 13% score 
their higher rate of participation in comparison to all other categories of actors. Apart from 
Lithuania, all other countries participate to the TWGs with national rates similar even higher 
to the respective ones of old member states (see Figure IV, Appendix I).
Finally, ENGOs with 2.5% represent the smallest group of participants to the EIPPCB TWGs. 
Figure 5. Participation rates of ENGOs
 
ENGO participation is dominated by EU umbrella organisations (46%) most notably the 
European Environmental Bureau that represents 133 ENGOs based in all EU member states. 
National ENGOs account for the rest 57% of ENGO participants from only nine member 
states dominated by German organisations with 29%. The rest of member states score 
considerably moderate participation rates. ENGOs from the UK with 8%, France with 6%, 
Spain with 4% and Poland, Greece, Denmark and the Czech Republic with 2% are the most 
visible groups. Finally, another 2% of ENGOs correspond to participants from non-EU, 
mainly EFTA countries.   
Summing up, the analysis of the actor dimension of EIPPC TWGs reveals considerable 
imbalances in the functional composition of EIPPC TWGs.  Industrial actors (individual firms 
and industrial associations) are the most visible group of private actors and the second largest 
category after governmental representatives. On the contrary, both research institutes and 
ENGOs are rather underrepresented in the process. These imbalances are largely attributed to 
the framing of the policy problem addressed by the so-called Seville process. BAT 
identification is a technical issue that requires enormous amount of resources by private actors 
seeking to participate in TWGs.  The problem is particularly apt to ENGOs that face 
considerable barriers to participate in the process due to lack essential resources in terms of 
knowledge and expertise in relation to BAT in different industrial sectors.   ENGOs often 
compensate for their weak resource base through alliances with environmental research 
institutes. However, their participation is also limited. These considerable functional 
imbalances raise the issue of winners and losers in the process of regulatory policy making in 
the framework of EIPPCB TWGs. Although industry is the most influential private actor in 
the process it is far from constituting an actor with homogeneous preferences over the type 
BAT adopted and the corresponding ELV thresholds. Our analysis does not indicate a 
systematic over-representation in the process by industrial associations and individual firms 
neither from high nor from low emitting countries. On the contrary, industrial actors' 
participation is much more balanced comparing to all other types of actors. The multiplicity 
and heterogeneity of participants coupled with considerable disparities in the distribution of 
the resources between them point to the pertinence of effective steering modes, namely rules 
that regulate network interactions and secure durable network functionality. The following 
section approaches these institutional properties of TWGs, namely the formal and informal 
modes of interaction between network participants and the institutional mechanisms of 
network coordination and arbitration in the decision making.  

b)	Steering Modes
TWGs facilitate exchange of information between participants on environmental and 
economic elements of BAT in each industrial sector. Given the multiplicity of actors with 
divergent sectoral economic, national and political preferences and interests over the 
identification of BATs, it is remarkable that network interactions are governed predominately 
by informal rules with no formal conflict resolution mechanisms. The EIPPCB serves as the 
network moderator. It undertakes all administrative preparatory work.  There are neither 
majoritarian decision making rules applied in cases of conflicts over the adoption of BAT 
emission thresholds nor formal arbitration mechanisms. On the contrary, there is an explicit 
attempt to seek consensual unanimous decision making based on scientific expertise 
argumentation and persuasion. 
At the informal level there are three steering mechanisms that arbitrate in cases of profound 
disagreements and conflicts over the content of BREFs. At the first instance, the EIPPCB 
plays a central role in reducing potential conflicts, especially during the process of drafting 
and revising the content of the BREFs. At this stage the EIPPCB acts as a mediator by 
contributing to the finding of compromises in difficult issue areas. Through its political 
independence it manages to 'neutralise' disagreements by distilling the content of the BREFs 
from political statements and confining the discourse in purely scientific points related to the 
validity, accuracy and credibility of data (S?rup 2000).  Significant disagreements and 
political conflicts are also discussed in the IEF that comprises a higher level of representation. 
Finally, the Commission retains a discretionary influence over the contents of the BREFs. 
Moreover, the Commission can introduce harmonised ELVs when a need for harmonization is 
identified.  However, this element of 'shadow of hierarchy' is of dubious real essence since it 
would jeopardise and de-legitimize the process.
The weak institutionalisation of network interactions and decision making rules in the 
framework of the TWGs has been heavily criticised by environmental organizations. It has 
been argued that although it seems to favour consensus in reality its operation is subjective to 
the unequal distribution of resources in favour of industrial actors (Hey 2000). It remains to 
be seen what are the effects of the participation and steering modes analysed above in terms 
of regulatory policy outcomes.



Regulatory effects:  a 'race to the mean'?
The procedural character of the IPPC Directive and the considerable leverage provided to 
national actors to organise their domestic single permit systems offers a number of interesting 
perspectives to account for its impact on national institutions and regulatory outcomes in 
different member states. However, in this paper we rather focus on the regulatory effects of 
participatory structures such as the TWGs, in terms of the level of 'indicative' regulatory 
standards adopted by the BREFs. Our analysis draws on information from the first six 
concluded BREFs on Cement and Lime, Chlor Alklai, Iron and Steel, Non-Ferrous Metals 
Industry, Pulp and Paper and Ferrous Metals Industries. Since the vast number of BREFs have 
not yet been finalised our attempt is to identify some tentative trends regarding the regulatory 
effects of EIPPCB TWGs. 
In all the BREFs mentioned above, reports conclude that the adoption of indicative emission 
range values reflects a compromise between diverging interpretations regarding what 
constitutes BAT in each of the above sectors. The definition of BAT is less conflictual in 
cases where there are few BAT technologies. In the case non-ferrous metals and ferro-alloy 
industries for example, the main BAT alternatives are the introduction of semi-closed or 
closed furnaces that have better performance in energy recovery during the smelting process 
and reduced dust and fume emissions into air.  Despite the considerable costs involved in the 
adoption of this technology it is expected that a BAT will be gradually introduced during the 
replacing or upgrading existing open furnaces used by the majority of industrial plants in the 
sector.
More complicated and polysynthetic problem is the identification of BAT for processes with 
multiple tightly integrated production stages that correspond to different operational and 
technological solutions and quality of raw materials. In these cases multiple indicators have to 
be balanced and consensus is relatively more difficult to achieve. Available reports indicate 
that in these cases compromises are achieved in two ways: a) by adopting wide ranges of 
indicative emission values that correspond to BAT. This leads to the inclusion of the vast 
majority of IPPC plants in the sector; b) by a tendency to adopt solutions that converge along 
the 'mean' of emitting values derived from the data submitted in the TWGs. Both approaches 
have been applied in a combined way to the BREFs identified above.  The convergence to 
the mean of reported emitting values is justified by references to economic, technological and 
production parameters that condition the availability of best technologies in terms of 
percentage of industrial plants falling within indicative emission values. 
The extent to which converge to the means of environmental performance reflect a high level 
or, at least a higher level of environmental protection than the one potentially achieved 
through command-and-control regulatory approaches is highly contested. To a large extent it 
reflects different interpretations of BAT between the participants in the policy process. 
Experts delegated by environmental organisations denote that the current modes of conflict 
resolution have negative effects on the diffusion of novel environmentally friendly 
technologies (Lohse and Snader 2000). Other participants point to the 'pulling effect' of this 
outcome for the heavily polluting facilities that have to raise their environmental standards in 
levels that are more realistic considering the amount of investments required for the 
introduction of novel production processes (Hägstrom, 2000). 

Concluding remarks
It is still early to fully account for the regulatory effects of the so-called Seville process. It 
remains to be confirmed in the light of the forthcoming BREFs whether there is a systematic 
trend to compromise diverging preferences and interests over the level of indicative 
regulatory thresholds at the 'means' of the various national sectoral environmental 
performances. Such a perspective raises a number of pertinent issues regarding the future of 
EU environmental regulatory regime. Given the already existing dichotomy between 
leaders/laggards in EU member state environmental performance, it would not be too 
precarious to assume that successive EU enlargements with the inclusion of countries with 
considerably lower production process environmental standards will drive compromises over 
the level environmental standards adopted in the framework of participatory networks to 
downwards. In an ever more diverse union the 'indicative' non-binding character of 
regulatory standards will potentially reduce compliance deficits, especially in member states 
that struggle with economic problems and outdated industries. In other words, the dilemma is 
between high regulatory standards causing compliance problems in certain member states 
and/or industrial sectors or lower non-binding ones being more effectively applied at the 
domestic level. In this context, the role of regulatory networks for effective policy 
implementation through the transfer of experience and the diffusion of environmental 
progressive technologies is crucial. However, the alleged 'political efficiency' and 'policy 
effectiveness' of co-regulatory networks still remains an empirical question. Further research 
on the ways in which indicative BAT-based emission thresholds are incorporated into 
domestic regulatory systems in old and new member states has to be conducted in order to 
gather a complete picture. 
Notes
? This paper is part of the project 'Smoothening' Eastern Enlargements: Independent Regulatory Agencies and 
Non-Hierarchical Steering, which is part of the EU Integrated Project New Modes of Governance, financed by 
the European Commission and coordinated at the European University Institute, Florence (Contract No. CIT1-
CT-2004-506392).

  OJ L 257 October 10, 1996.
  These are Latvia and Poland until 2010 and Slovakia and Slovenia until 2011. These installations must receive 
a permit by the end of October 2007 but they will not be obliged to meet emission limit values based on the BAT 
until the end of transition periods.
  A list of BREFs is available at http://eippcb.jrc.es/pages/FActivities.htm
  The EIPPCB publishes only the contacts of participants in the formulation of each BREF. Based on this 
information we constructed a database. Each participant is coded by nationality and type of organisation (s)he 
represents, namely, Government, EU institution, national ENGO, EU ENGO, Research Institute, Individual Firm 
and national and EU sectoral associations. Research assistance by Gerasimos Kalogiratos on constructing this 
database is gratefully acknowledged.  
  EPER covers large and medium-sized industrial plants which exceed specified emission thresholds (Annex I of 
the IPPC Directive). This measure is significant since according to EPER, 'the threshold values have been fixed 
at a level that aims to cover about 90% of the emissions from facilities covered by IPPC' 
(http://www.eper.cec.eu.int/eper/).
  We group together actors according to five categories: EU referring to representatives from EU institutions, 
European sectoral industrial associations and ENGOs operating as 'umbrella' organisations at the EU level; 
Southern Member States including government representatives, representatives from industrial sectoral 
associations and ENGOs from Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Malta and Cyprus; North Western Member 
States   comprising the above actors from Austria, Germany, the UK, Netherlands, France, Denmark, Finland 
and Sweden, Belgium, Ireland and Luxembourg; CEECs comprising actors from the Czech Republic, Estonia, 
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia; and, Non-EU that comprises EFTA actors and from 
that are not EU member states. 
  Unfortunately no information on EPER facilities is provided, yet, for the ten new member states.
  These TWGs are: the Large Combustion Plant, Large Volume Inorganic Chemicals – Amonia, Acinds and 
Fertilisers, Large Volume Inorganic Chemicals – Solid and Others, Slaughterhouses and Animal by-products, 
Food Drink and Milk Processes, Ceramics, Management of Tailings and Waste – Rock in Mining Activities, 
Surface treatment of metals, Surface treatments using solvents, Waster incineration, Waster treatments, 
Speciality inorganic chemicals, Orgnic fine chemicals, Polymers and Energy Efficiency (see 
http://eippcb.jrc.es/pages/FActivities.htm.
  A report from an industrial association estimates the requirements for effective participation to the TWGs 
approximately €1,000,000. 
  The EEB has campaigned for financial support by the European Commission in order to compensate for 
imbalanced participation to TWGs (Hey 2000). 
  The EIPPCB's staff comprises experts temporarily detached from national ministries and the Commission. 
  The Commission publishes the results of BREFs in the Official Journal of the EU.
  For an overview of technical details please refer to Finkeldei 2000 or at the relevant BREF published at 
http://eippcb.jrc.es/pages/FActivities.htm.
  For e full discussion of extremely technical information regarding the Pulp and Paper, Iron and Steel, Cement 
and Lime and Chlor Alkali industries see (Schoenberger, 2000 and Suhr, 2000; Hagström, 2000). 



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APPENDIX I

Figure I – Data on national Composition of EIPPCB TWGs

MS
National 
Participation rate 
(%)
Population %
EPER Facilities %
A
2.3
1.9
32.5
B
4.2
2.3
23
Cy
0.1
0.2

Cz
1.2
2.3

DK
2.1
1.2
13.8
ES
0.3
0.3

FI
2.2
1.2
29.3
F
6.6
12.9
19.9
D
11.6
8.2
23.8
EL
4.3
2.3
25.3
HU
0.8
2.3

IRL
2.0
0.8
34
I
7.8
12.8
7.6
LV
0.4
0.5

LT
0.0
0.8

L
0.4
0.1

MT
0.1
0.1

NL
6.5
3.4
3.8
PL
0.8
8.7

P
8.2
2.2
28.1
SK
0.2
1.2

SV
0.7
0.5

E
7.2
8.8
27.1
S
2.0
2.0
17.7
UK
9.0
13.1
38.4
EU
16.5

20.9
Non-EU
2.4


Sources: Own elaboration based on information provided by the EIIPPCB 
(http://eippcb.jrc.es/pages/FActivities.htm). Data on EPER facilities from European Pollutant 
Emission Register, 2004 Review, Final Report available at 
http://eper.cec.eu.int/eper/documents/EPER%20Review%20report,%20final.pdf, p.45. Data 
on IPPC facilities from European Commission, DG Environment, Analysis of Member States' 
first implementation reports on the IPPC Directive (EU 15), June 2004.











Figure II. Data on National Participation Rates of Individual Firms 

MS
Individual firms' Participation 
rates as a proportion to number 
of IPPC plants (%)
Individual Firms' Participation  rates as 
proportion to firms register to EPER (%)
A
1.0
3.0
B
2.5
11.0
DK
0.5
3.8
FI
1.1
3.7
F
0.7
3.4
D
0.9
3.8
EL
11.4
45.1
IRL
0.2
0.6
I
0.4
5.7
L


NL
0.6
16.3
P
1.6
5.7
E
0.5
1.9
S
0.5
2.7
UK
0.8
2.2
EU
0.8
3.9
Sources: Own elaboration based on information provided by the EIIPPCB 
(http://eippcb.jrc.es/pages/FActivities.htm). Data on EPER facilities from European Pollutant 
Emission Register, 2004 Review, Final Report available at 
http://eper.cec.eu.int/eper/documents/EPER%20Review%20report,%20final.pdf, p.45. Data 
on IPPC facilities from European Commission, DG Environment, Analysis of Member States' 
first implementation reports on the IPPC Directive (EU 15), June 2004.























Figure III. Data on National Participation Rates of Industrial Associations 

MS
Participation 
Rate %
A
0.3
B
0.8
CY
0.0
CZ
0.5
DK
0.5
ES
0.0
FIN
0.3
F
5.4
D
9.7
EL
3.2
HU
0.8
IRL
0.3
I
7.2
LV
0.0
LT
0.0
L
0.0
MT
0.0
NL
1.1
PL
0.0
P
5.9
SL
0.0
SV
0.0
E
10.7
S
0.8
UK
2.1
EU
48.5
Non-EU
1.9

100.0





















Figure IV. Data on National Participation Rates of Research Institutes 

MS
Participation Rate %
A
1.1
B
1.7
CY
0.0
CZ
3.4
DK
1.7
ES
0.6
FIN
0.6
F
5.1
D
11.9
EL
1.1
HU
4.0
IRL
1.1
I
29.5
LV
2.3
LT
0.0
L
0.0
MT
0.0
NL
1.7
PL
1.1
P
6.3
SL
0.6
SV
0.6
E
13.1
S
0.6
UK
4.0
EU
3.4
Non-EU
4.5

100.0




1