The Political Economy of European Union Environmental Governance
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The Political Economy of European Union Environmental Governance: The Case of the Voluntary Agreement to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions from New Cars Elah Matt Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia June 2012 © This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any information derived there from must be in accordance with current UK Copyright Law. In addition, any quotation or extract must include full attribution. TO MY FAMILY, WHO MADE ME WHO I AM TODAY 2 Abstract A shift from government to governance - one associated with changing power relations between public and private actors - has been reported across a multitude of policy domains, including the European Union (EU). In EU environmental policy, this putative shift has been associated with the advocacy of ‘new’ environmental policy instruments (NEPIs), including voluntary agreements. Uncovering the power relations that shape these instruments is key to understanding the longer term impacts of these changing governance processes. However, this aspect remains under-developed in the existing literature. This thesis therefore explores the contribution of a neo-Gramscian political economy perspective to understanding how the power relations between public and private policy actors shape the uptake of, and effects of NEPIs in the EU. The voluntary agreement between the EU and European carmakers is the most high profile example of the employment of voluntary agreements at EU-level. It was the main pillar of the EU’s strategy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from cars between 1998 and 2008. The voluntary targets were not met, and the EU subsequently introduced mandatory legislation in 2009. Employing a documentary analysis methodology, this thesis empirically delineates the policy cycle of the voluntary agreement. It then analyses this policy process utilising a neo-Gramscian framework. The findings of this thesis suggest that a neo-Gramscian framework provides a means for more fully conceptualising the asymmetrical distribution of power among public and private policy actors. It explains how these actors interacted through continuous processes of contestation and compromise, and how these interactions shaped and were shaped through the policy process of the voluntary agreement. Furthermore, the neo- Gramscian perspective provided insights into changes in material, organisational and ideological practices. However, in order to better account for the role of various policy actors, the framework needs to be developed and supplemented by complementary theoretical approaches. 3 Table of Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................................... 8 List of Figures ................................................................................................................. 9 List of Boxes .................................................................................................................... 9 Thesis Acronyms and Abbreviations .......................................................................... 10 Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 1: The Political Economy of European Union Environmental Governance Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 16 Defining Governance: A Policy Instruments Perspective ....................................................... 18 Governance and Changing Relations among Public and Private Actors ............................. 19 Policy Instruments: Evidence of a Governance Shift? ........................................................ 21 Governing through Instruments: New Environmental Policy Instruments ............................. 25 New Environmental Policy Instruments .............................................................................. 25 New Environmental Policy Instruments in the EU ............................................................. 28 New Environmental Policy Instruments in Practice: Voluntary Agreements ......................... 30 A Policy Cycle Approach to Voluntary Agreements .......................................................... 33 A Neo-Gramscian Political Economy Perspective: An Introduction ...................................... 39 Aims and Objectives ............................................................................................................... 43 Structure of the Thesis ............................................................................................................. 44 Chapter 2: European Union Transport and Car Governance: An Overview Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 46 EU Transport and Car Governance: Private Actors and Member States ................................ 47 The European Car Industry ................................................................................................. 47 The Oil Industry .................................................................................................................. 49 Non-Governmental Organisations ....................................................................................... 50 Member States ..................................................................................................................... 51 Policy-Making in the European Union Institutions ................................................................. 53 The Council of Ministers ..................................................................................................... 53 The European Commission ................................................................................................. 55 The European Parliament .................................................................................................... 56 The European Court of Justice ............................................................................................ 57 Transport Governance in the European Union ........................................................................ 58 4 The Common Transport Policy and the Promotion of Road Transport .............................. 58 Towards Sustainable Mobility? ........................................................................................... 61 Car Governance in the European Union .................................................................................. 64 Liberalising the European Car Industry .............................................................................. 65 The CARS 21 High-Level Group ........................................................................................ 66 The 2008 Financial Crisis and its Aftermath ....................................................................... 68 The Governance of Car Emissions .......................................................................................... 70 1970s: Vehicle Emissions Regulation as a Means of Market Harmonisation ..................... 71 1980s: Struggles to Tighten Vehicle Emission Standards ................................................... 71 1990s: Towards New Modes of Governance? ..................................................................... 73 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 75 Chapter 3: A Neo-Gramscian Perspective on European Union Car Governance Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 77 Conceptualising EU Governance: Some Existing Approaches ............................................... 78 Multi-level Governance ....................................................................................................... 78 Network Governance ........................................................................................................... 80 Political Economy Approaches to the Study of European Union Governance ....................... 81 International Political Economy .......................................................................................... 82 Comparative Political Economy .......................................................................................... 83 Critical Political Economy Approaches .............................................................................. 84 A Neo-Gramscian Perspective ................................................................................................ 86 Hegemony ........................................................................................................................... 87 Historical Bloc ..................................................................................................................... 89 Passive Revolution and War of Position ............................................................................. 91 Neo-Gramscian Perspectives on European Union and Environmental Governance ............... 94 European Union Governance .............................................................................................. 95 Environmental Governance ................................................................................................