DISCUSSION PAPER WISSENSCHAFTSZENTRUM BERLIN FÜR SOZIALFORSCHUNG SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH CENTER BERLIN FS II 95-301 25 Years of Modern Environmental Policy in Germany. Treading a Well-Worn Path to the Top of the International Field. Helmut Weidner ISSN 1011-9523 Forschungsschwerpunkt: Research Area: Technik — Arbeit — Umwelt Technology — Work — Environment Abteilung: Research Unit: Normbildung und Umwelt Standard-setting and Environment ZITIERWEISE z CITATION Helmut Weidner 25 Years of Modern Environmental Policy in Germany. Treading a Well-Worn Path to the Top of the International Field. Discussion Paper FS II 95 - 301 Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung 1995 Forschungsschwerpunkt: Research Area: Technik — Arbeit — Umwelt Technology — Work — Environment Abteilung: Research Unit: Normbildung und Umwelt Standard-setting and Environment Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung Reichpietschufer 50, D-10785 Berlin Tel.: +49/30/25491-0 z Fax: +49/30/25491-684 E-mail: [email protected] z Internet: http://www.wz-berlin.de 25 Years of Modern Environmental Policy in Germany. Treading a Well-Worn Path to the Top of the International Field Summary The development of a systematic environmental policy began in Germany over 25 years ago. In the meantime "environmental protection" has become an established area of policymaking and is still expanding. Nevertheless, state environmental policy is once again subject to severe societal pressure. On the one hand, demands are being made with great vigour that the concept of "sustainable development" be translated into tangible policies, that the ecological modernisation of the industrial society be driven forward and that the "global challenges to the environment" be dealt with quickly and effectively. On the other hand, criticism from industry is becoming louder, with accusations that environmental measures are exaggerated and inefficient, and at the same time in the social area there are increasing conflicts of distribution due to the rise of other problems (such as unemployment and cuts in the social welfare system). Against this background it is interesting to review the most important phases in the development of state environmental policy and highlight the relevant factors which contributed to it. It is then possible to identify the factors which are particularly relevant in injecting more dynamism into environmental policy and raising its efficiency. This study is intended as the first step in this direction. The main characteristics and effects of German environmental policy are identified and discussed on the basis of criteria and insights generally acknowledged by environmental policy experts. 25 Jahre moderne Umweltpolitik in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. In alten Bahnen zu einer internationalen Spitzenstellung Zusammenfassung Die Entwicklung einer systematischen Umweltpolitik fand in Deutschland vor rund 25 Jahren statt. Inzwischen ist "Umweltschutz" zu einem etablierten und (immer noch) expandierenden Politikfeld geworden. Gleichwohl steht die staatliche Umweltpolitik gegenwärtig (wieder einmal) unter starkem gesellschaftlichen Druck: Zum einen wird gefordert, sie solle mit größerem Elan das Konzept "nachhaltige Entwicklung" in konkrete Politiken umsetzen, die ökologische Modernisierung der Industriegesellschaft vorantreiben und zugleich rasch und wirksam den "globalen Umweltherausforderungen" begegnen, zum anderen nimmt die Kritik aus dem Wirtschaftsbereich an überzogenen und ineffizienten Umweltpolitikmaßnahmen kräftig zu, gleichzeitig zeichnen sich im sozialen Bereich zunehmend Verteilungskonflikte durch das Ansteigen anderer Probleme (etwa Arbeitslosigkeit, Reduzierung des sozialen Sicherungsnetzes) ab. Vor diesem Hintergrund ist es von Interesse, die wichtigsten Entwicklungsphasen der staatlichen Umweltpolitik und die hierfür relevanten Faktoren aufzuzeigen, um auf dieser Grundlage die Faktoren herauszufinden, die für eine Dynamisierung und Erhöhung der Effektivität von Umweltpolitik besonders relevant sind. Die vorliegende Studie versteht sich als ein erster Schritt in diese Richtung. In ihr werden die Hauptcharakteristika und Effekte der deutschen Umweltpolitik herausgearbeitet und auf der Basis allgemeiner umweltpolitologischer Kriterien und Erkenntnisse diskutiert. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 2. The Environmental Policy of the Social-Liberal Coalition in Government 1969-1982... 2 2.1 Stimuli from Abroad........................................................................................................................ 2 2.2 The Beginnings of a Modern Environmental Policy...................................................................... 3 2.3 A Period of Stagnation ................................................................................................................... 7 2.4 The Return of Dynamics ................................................................................................................ 8 2.5 Summing up..................................................................................................................................11 3. The Environmental Policy of the Conservative-Liberal Government............................ 12 3.1 A Dynamic Beginning: Enforcement is Given Priority over Programme Formulation...............12 3.2 The Chernobyl Effect: The Establishment of the Federal Ministry for the Environment...........14 3.3 Environmental Policy after the Unification of the Two German States: A Brief Outlook...........17 4. The Constitutional Division of Powers and Organisational Structure of Environmental Policy......................................................................................................................................20 4.1 The (Absence of) the "Right to a Sound Environment" in the Federal Constitution..................20 4.2 Legislative Power.........................................................................................................................22 4.3 Implementation and Enforcement................................................................................................25 4.4 Organisational Structure of Environmental Protection in Germany...........................................26 4.4.1 National Level .................................................................................................................................. 27 4.4.2 State Level ....................................................................................................................................... 30 4.4.3 Local Level....................................................................................................................................... 32 4.5 Co-Ordination of Environmental Protection Policy in Germany.................................................36 4.6 Excursus: The Influence of Environment-Related Regulations Issued by the European Communities (E.C.)..............................................................................................................................39 5. Evaluation of Environmental Policy from Various Perspectives ...................................41 5.1 Judgements by Expert Groups....................................................................................................42 5.2 In the Light of Cross-National Comparison.................................................................................46 6. Analysis of German Environmental Policy........................................................................51 6.1 Discussion by Basic Categories..................................................................................................52 6.2 Policy Style: Criticism and Reform Discussion...........................................................................61 6.2.1 Criticism by Various Experts ........................................................................................................... 61 6.2.2 Reform Discussion within the Political and Administrative System............................................... 63 7. Political Pressure as a Precondition for the Move Towards a More Substantial Environmental Policy and its Underlying Factors............................................................ 66 8. Does Federalism Matter?.....................................................................................................76 9. Résumé: 25 Years of Modern Environmental Policy in Germany. Treading a Well- Worn Path to the Top of the International Field................................................................ 78 10. Bibliography .......................................................................................................................... 84 1. Introduction Legal regulations and government measures to protect nature and human beings against environmentally hazardous activities of commercial and industrial firms have a long tradition in Germany. They are anchored in private and public law, e.g. building, pub- lic health and sanitation, and police laws. The Water Rights Act and the Factories Act have a particularly long tradition. The various regulations enacted to prevent noxious and offensive emissions from becoming a nuisance or being prejudicial to health and property were systematised and concentrated for the first time in the Prussian Indus- trial Statute of 1845. At that time the main emphasis was on protecting health and property in the vicinity