The European Union's environment policy on the protection of the ozone layer and its impact on economic competitiveness

Abstract

Environmental concerns have lately become major issues. As states are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental disruption caused through human activities, they are pushing for measures aimed to reverse this destructive process. Parallel to environmental concerns, concern for maintaining economic competitiveness has also become a dominant political issue within the Union. As a result of such tension, EU Member States are increasingly being faced with the problem of balancing these conflicting interests, that is, their established commitment to environmental protection and their commitment to promote economic performance and competitiveness. Much of the development of the Community environmental policy has been highly influenced by industrial interests and worries about economic competitiveness. This dissertation aims to contribute to this wider debate on environmental economic relationship, by analysing how and to what extent have concerns about economic competitiveness influenced the development of the European Union's policy on ozone layer depletion. This theme is first introduced by providing the rationale for a Community environmental policy in general, describing in this way some of the arguments used in the subsequent chapters which will confirm the said relationship. The first part of the dissertation focuses on policy analysis. Chapter one presents an overview of EU environmental policy - focusing on its principles, tools, activities and achievements - to illustrate how the Community has moved in the different sectors of environment (including ozone depletion). The second chapter analyses the policy on ozone layer protection. It first sets out the problem and thus the rationale for policy intervention and then focuses on the EC/EU response to this rising concern, both within the global context as well as within the Union, by going into the main regulatory measures and outlining the requirements set therein for Member States to follow. The second part of the thesis shifts to an economic analysis of the problem. The third chapter outlines the main relationship between environmental policy and economic competitiveness, providing definitions as to what is implied by environment (from an economic perspective) and economic competitiveness, in order to understand better the arguments set out in the following chapter. The fourth chapter discusses the relationship between policy development on ozone layer protection and how this was influenced by concerns of industry's competitiveness. It studies individual debates, providing a chronological order as to how and at what measures were targeted. Three targeted substances are focused upon, these being chlorofluorocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons and methyl bromide. By reference to the development of policy targeted at controlling these substances, the chapter provides the arguments, which sustain the thesis that environment policy formulation was and is still influenced by economic concerns. The last part of the dissertation deals with future challenges. Chapter five deals first with enlargement and then provides a local case study regarding negotiations for a transitional period in the field of ozone layer protection. The account will then come to a close with an outline of what has been achieved so far in the environmental area, particularly in the sphere of ozone layer protection and then highlights the challenges still to be faced.