ABSTRACT

The chapter aims to describe some aspects of local environmental regulation in Hungary, to explain the patterns observed, and to relate the Hungarian experience of local environmental regulation to the wider academic literature on environmental policy and post-socialism. It pulls together the main findings and relates them to the initial theoretical debates. The survey data suggested that local government environmental policy was most developed in larger local governments. The greater resources of companies enable them to spend more on expert opinion than can the regional environmental inspectorate (REI) or local government. The strength of REI policy in the four localities co-varied with the same variables as local government environmental policy. The chapter draws on prevailing theories about local environmental regulation based on research in advanced capitalist societies. The balance of power between firms, councils, inspectorates and the public, and the resourcing of inspectorates have been shown to have the same role in Hungary as in other studies.