Research project HL/DD/02 (Research action HL)
The project proposal relates to the issue of policy instruments for sustainable development.
Once a government has defined its environmental policy objectives, it has several types of policy instruments at its disposal in order to put these environmental objectives into practice: social regulation instruments, planning instruments, financial support instruments, direct regulation instruments and market-driven regulation instruments.
The chief aim of market-driven regulation instruments (free market model) is to calculate all external environmental costs generated over the entire life cycle of products (from raw materials via production, distribution and consumption right up to their ultimate disposal). This is done so that eco-friendly products on the market are not placed at a competitive disadvantage with regard to products that generate more pollution and waste.
One conclusion may be that international, European, federal/national and regional environmental policies are gradually undergoing change in terms of their choices of environmental policy instruments: whereas environmental policy was characterised until recently by the direct regulatory approach ("plan model of environmental policy": government budgets, government agencies, ordering and prohibiting), the market-driven regulatory approach ("free market model of environmental policy": attracting private capital for environmental policy, privatisation of the government’s environmental responsibilities, use of market-orientated environmental policy instruments) is now gaining an increasingly firm foothold.
However, the conclusion often must be that the legal model used for the modified choices of environmental policy instruments takes no account of the specific aspects of Belgian, European and international systems of law. In federal Belgium, moreover, this policy choice is not that simple. For example, one result of the various State reforms is that the federal government (which now only has very limited responsibility over environmental matters) has sole authority over product standards, product taxation and environmental inspections. In contrast, the regional governments (which have extensive environmental powers) only have authority over charges for waste and for water.
At the same time, the regional governments are tending to use all sorts of new environmental policy instruments alongside their existing direct regulation instruments: mandatory acceptance, mandatory take-back, environmental policy agreements, and so on.
Irrespective of any economic and ecological motives for choosing clearly specified environmental policy instruments, a government is naturally bound by the legal frameworks within which it operates as an authority. The above-mentioned legal frameworks determine whether a government can or cannot switch to using clearly specified environmental policy instruments, or at the very least the modalities through which the use of these may and/or should be governed.
The aim of this project is to bring clarity to the legal discussion regarding responsibilities for environmental protection generally and, more specifically, for the various environmental policy instruments. The research project therefore aims to investigate more closely the various legal aspects of the choice of environmental policy instruments from the Belgian (part 2), European (part 3) and international (part 4) perspectives.
Methodology
The foundation for the study is provided by a classification of the various environmental policy instruments: instruments of social regulation, financial support, planning, direct regulation, market-driven regulation.
There is also an investigation into whether the choice of a specific environmental policy instrument by the federal and regional governments is compatible with norms under the Belgian, European and international systems of law.
This question comes in two parts. On the one hand, it investigates whether the Belgian, European or international systems of law place a negative obligation on the federal and regional governments with regard to the choice of environmental policy instruments or possibilities for their application, that is to say prohibit the federal and regional governments from applying a particular environmental policy instrument (in a particular manner). On the other hand, it examines whether the three systems of law contain positive obligations with regard to the choice of policy means or the methods for their application - in other words, making the use of a specific environmental policy instrument (in a particular manner) mandatory.
The study is divided into three separate sections that examine the Belgian, European and international perspectives. This division displays an artificial character inasmuch as obligations under European law can have an immediate effect on the Belgian system of law, whereas obligations under international law have to be implemented through European and/or national legal measures.
Nevertheless, this methodological approach appears to be better on didactic grounds. Part V of this study, in which the findings from parts II (Belgian perspective), III (European perspective) and IV (international perspective) will be processed to form a summary, will offer a systematic overview of each policy instrument category.
Juridische aspecten van de keuze inzake milieubeleidsinstrumenten vanuit Belgisch, Europees en Internationaal perspectief: eindverslag
Deketelaere, K. - Van Calster, G. - Vanheule, Jan ... et al. Brussel: DWTC, 2002 (SP1011)
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[Exhausted]
Juridische aspecten van de keuze inzake milieubeleidsinstrumenten vanuit Belgisch, Europees en Internationaal perspectief: bijlage I. Deel I - Het Belgisch perspectief
Brussel: DWTC, 2002 (SP1012)
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Juridische aspecten van de keuze inzake milieubeleidsinstrumenten vanuit Belgisch, Europees en Internationaal perspectief: bijlage II. Deel II - Het Europese perspectief
Brussel: DWTC, 2002 (SP1013)
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Juridische aspecten van de keuze inzake milieubeleidsinstrumenten vanuit Belgisch, Europees en Internationaal perspectief: bijlage III. Deel III - Het Internationale perspectief
Brussel: DWTC, 2002 (SP1014)
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Juridische aspecten van de keuze inzake milieubeleidsinstrumenten vanuit Belgisch, Europees en Internationaal perspectief: bijlage IV. Deel IV - Draaiboek
Brussel: DWTC, 2002 (SP1015)
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Juridische aspecten van de keuze inzake milieubeleidsinstrumenten vanuit Belgisch, Europees en Internationaal perspectief: syntheseverslag
Brussel: DWTC, 2002 (SP1016)
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Legal aspects of the choice of environmental policy instruments from the point of view of Belgian, European and international law: executive summary
Brussels: OSTC, 2002 (SP1064)
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