Environmental Leaders and Laggards in Europe

No other European laws are so frequently violated as environmental directives. This informative volume explains why member states have repeatedly failed to comply with European environmental law. It challenges the assumption that non-compliance is merely a southern problem. By critically comparing and analyzing Spain and Germany, the volume demonstrates that both "northern leaders" and "southern laggards" face compliance problems if a European policy is not compatible with domestic regulatory structures. The North-South divide is therefore much more complex than previously thought. Examining each country's capabilities of shaping European policies according to its environmental concerns and economic interests, the book debates the possible outcomes if the European Union does not come to terms with the "leader-laggards dynamics" in environmental policy-making. It is a resource for anyone concerned with environmental policy-making and law, particularly within the EU, as well as those interested in environmental and political geography.