CROSSBORDER INTEGRATION BETWEEN THE NETHERLANDS AND BELGIUM The case of water quality in the Meuse River Basin Angeliki Karydi Master Thesis Nijmegen School of Management Radboud University MA Environment and Society Studies 0 1 CROSSBORDER INTEGRATION BETWEEN THE NETHERLANDS AND BELGIUM The case of water quality in the Meuse River Basin Colophon Author: Angeliki Karydi Student number: s1025954 Word Count: 28000 Internal supervisor: Daan Boezeman, Radboud University Nijmegen External supervisor: Noud Kuijpers, ProgrammaBureau Maas University: Radboud University Nijmegen Faculty: School of Management Degree: MA Environment and Society Studies Course: Master Thesis Date: 22.08.2019 2 Contents Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 5 CHAPTER 1 ........................................................................................................................................... 8 1.1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 8 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT ............................................................................................................ 8 1.3 SOCIETAL AND SCIENTIFIC RELEVANCE ........................................................................... 10 1.4 RESEARCH AIM AND RESEARCH QUESTION ..................................................................... 11 1.5 READING STRUCTURE............................................................................................................ 12 CHAPTER 2 ......................................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................ 12 2.2 CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION AND POLICY FRAMEWORK.......................................... 13 2.3 POLICY ARRANGEMENTS APPROACH................................................................................. 14 2.3.1 ACTORS .............................................................................................................................. 15 2.3.2 RESOURCES ....................................................................................................................... 15 2.3.3 RULES ................................................................................................................................. 15 2.3.4 DISCOURSES ...................................................................................................................... 16 2.4 3C’s FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................................... 16 2.5 OPERATIONALIZATION .......................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 3 ......................................................................................................................................... 22 3.1 METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................... 22 3.2 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY ....................................................................................................... 22 3.3 RESEARCH STRATEGY ........................................................................................................... 24 3.4 CASE STUDY............................................................................................................................. 24 3.5 DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS ................................................................................... 25 3.5.1 Data Collection ..................................................................................................................... 26 3.5.2 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 27 3.6 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF RESEARCH ..................................................................... 27 CHAPTER 4 ......................................................................................................................................... 28 4.1 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................... 28 4.2 POLICY ARRANGEMENTS IN THE MEUSE........................................................................... 29 4.2.1 ACTORS .............................................................................................................................. 29 3 4.2.2 RESOURCES ....................................................................................................................... 31 4.2.3 RULES ................................................................................................................................. 32 4.2.4 DISCOURSES ...................................................................................................................... 32 4.3 DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES OF WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS .................... 34 4.3.1 SIMILARITIES .................................................................................................................... 34 4.3.2 DIFFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 36 4.4 OBSTACLES .............................................................................................................................. 44 CHAPTER 5 ......................................................................................................................................... 51 5.1 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 51 5.2 REFLECTION ............................................................................................................................. 53 5.3 LIMITATIONS ........................................................................................................................... 56 5.4 RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................. 57 REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................... 59 APPENDIX I: LIST OF INTERVIWEES .............................................................................................. 64 APPENDIX II: INTERVIEW GUIDE ................................................................................................... 65 APPENDIX III: CODING EXAMPLES ................................................................................................ 65 4 Summary The threat to water quality accelerated by population growth and climate change emphasizes the importance of the wise management of water resources and aquatic ecosystems to ensure that clean water continues to be available at an affordable cost in the future. While obstacles to successfully coping with domestic river management problems can be formidable; issues of pollution along with other problems on transboundary rivers appear to be particularly difficult to solve. The adoption of the water framework directive (WFD) in Europe aimed to solve those problems by reinforcing crossborder cooperation between riparian states. The aim of this research project is to examine the level of crossborder integration in the Meuse River basin between the Netherlands and Belgium on water quality, after the introduction of the WFD. In order to measure the effectiveness of co-operation the Policy Arrangement Approach and the 3 C’s (co-operation, coordination, collaboration) theories will be applied. To analyze the system context in place in the catchment, the Policy Arrangement Approach by Arts & Leroy (2006) will be used. This theory recognizes the interrelated dynamics within the policy domain, which encompasses four dimensions: actors, rules, resources and discourses. The 3C’s framework will help identify the elements that can be used to characterize cooperative- coordinative-collaborative interactions in the Meuse river basin, account in what level of integration we are currently at and make recommendations to work on special characteristics to build foundations for a particular interaction. This research is a single case study focused on the Meuse river basin with three sub parts: the Flemish-Dutch border area, the Walloon-Dutch border area and the shared catchment as a hole. I have done semi-structured interviews with the relevant actors in the area from both countries. I was assisted by the ProgrammaBureau Maasregio in conducting the research process along with the interviews and better understanding the existing dynamics. I have been a participatory observer in an International Meuse Commission meeting and I have conducted a policy document analysis. The system context of the Meuse and the integration dynamics within it are presented. Findings indicate that the integration in the area is at its infancy. Despite the high motivation and commitment of the partners, the findings demonstrate that the desired results are not achieved. This could be due to, among others, a lack of finance, official agreements and concrete targets and projects. The obstacles towards a more effective collaboration influence the integration dynamics