Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book assesses how member states have deployed New Environmental Policy Instruments (NEPIs) to promote the European Union (EU’s) environmental objectives in order to demonstrate the ways in which political and market factors have influenced their performance. It examines the general aims of EU environmental policy and the 'toolkit' of implementing mechanisms available to policymakers in order to provide a basic overview of EU environmental politics and NEPIs for the uninitiated reader. The book traces the negotiation and transposition of the Directive and establishes how and why it became one of the most hotly contended pieces of legislation in the history of European environmental policy. It discusses the contribution of NEPIs towards the effective implementation of the European environmental programme and the convergence of member-state policies.