Convergence in Environmental Policy? The Resilience of National Institutional Designs in Spain and Germany

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article unveils the resilience of national institutional designs in the process of European unification; more specifically, the article stands out the pervasiveness of the pattern of relationship between government and industry in the environmental policy of two countries: Spain and Germany. Although the European Union (EU) is increasingly influential in environmental policy, these designs have only recently undergone slight changes. This can be explained not only by the lesser importance that the EU has heretofore attached to the connection between the systems of interest intermediation and the fulfilment of Community policy goals, but by the strength of the historical arrangements and cultural traditions at the national level.