REACHing a Compromise. A Study on Inter- and Intra- Institutional Negotiations in the EU on the Chemical Regulation REACH

Nedanstående innehåll är skapat av Mimers Brunns besökare. Kommentera arbete

In the autumn of 2003 newspaper headlines declared that Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström had poison in her blood. After a blood test 28 hazardous chemicals were found, among these DDT that had been abandoned from the market since 1983. In this thesis the reader will find a case study on the EU?s chemical Regulation REACH (Regulation, Evaluation, Authorisation of Chemicals). REACH has been one of the most controversial and ambitious proposals that the Commission has ever put forward replacing 40 Directives and Regulations into one. REACH has been surrounded by conflicting interests which are divided into two camps; environmentalists versus industry-friendly. Lobbyism from both camp has been intense, which can be explained by the interests that are at stake, for instance the chemical industry in the EU employs about three million people. Despite these conflicting interests a compromise that was acceptable for most actors involved were reached; this puzzles me. The purpose of this thesis is to explain why they reached an acceptable outcome. In order to conduct my study three perspectives have been used. Two-level game theory helps too recognise that the inter- and intra- institutional negotiations are interdependent and affect one another. However, two-level game is not sufficient since negotiations take place between several actors at all levels, therefore policy network analysis are functioning as a complementary theory. To explain the interactions between the inter- and intra- institutional negotiations I have used the concept of communicative action where I claim that both arguing and bargaining are present, but in order to reach the final compromise arguing function as the problem-solver. The conclusion of the study is that the outcome can be explained by the institutional structure i.e. the co-decision pro...