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Environmental policy in the European Union: community competence vs member state competence
Author(s) -
Folmer Henk,
Jeppesen Tim
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.766
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1467-9663
pISSN - 0040-747X
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9663.00277
Subject(s) - member states , competence (human resources) , federalism , european union , member state , environmental quality , european community , welfare , environmental policy , public economics , business , political science , environmental resource management , economics , international trade , law , management , politics
In the environmental federalism literature it is argued that the optimal level of environmental quality varies widely across jurisdictions and that welfare losses associated with enforcing a harmonised uniform standard is quite large. Greater leeway for tailoring environmental standards to local circumstances are therefore in order. In this paper Member States’ possibilities to implement a higher level of environmental protection than the harmonized EU level are examined.