National Autonomy, European Integration and the Politics of Packaging Waste (Dissertation)

This book examines the treatment of packaging waste: how policy has changed and how waste is regulated. It compares packaging waste policies in three major EU countries: Germany, the U.K. and the Netherlands. Recent theories in comparative policy inform the analysis, particularly the neo-institutionalist approach, which includes the notions of path dependency and policy learning. Based on intensive empirical research the study shows the impact of EU processes on national policy traditions and identifies the factors that either trigger or constrain policy change and convergence. The book is relevant for those interested in regulatory change and persistence in Europe, the tensions between European integration and national traditions and autonomy, and the interrelationship of environmental protection and the common market programme. Students of law, political science, public policy, comparative politics, and European studies will benefit from this study as well as policy makers, managers and environmentalists.