Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book reviews the empirical evidence presented in the literature on the existence of a 'Southern Problem'. It also reviews the various explanations offered by the literature on implementation failure and non-compliance with European Environmental Law. The book shows that neither the 'Mediterranean Syndrome' nor more general approaches to the 'Southern Problem' are able to account for the variations in member state compliance. The book develops an alternative model, which systematically links policy and country variables in explaining implementation and compliance. The 'Pull-and-Push' Model allows to reformulate the 'Southern Problem' in more general terms by identifying differing degrees of policy misfit and of pressure from below and from above as the major factors driving effective implementation and compliance. The book tests the propositions of the 'Pull-and-Push' Model in a comparative study on the implementation of six different European environmental policies in Germany and Spain.