ABSTRACT
Central government is empowered to negotiate international agreements, including European Union (EU) legislation, establish basic norms and general plans on environmental policy, and co-ordinate central-regional programs, including state grants. The lack of a single ministry for the environment was long viewed as an indicator of the political and administrative weakness of Spanish environmental policy. The Ministry of Public Works, Transport and the Environment formally acted as the co-ordinator of all national environmental policy and was responsible for contacts with the EU. The regions are the most relevant actors in the environmental policy process. The governmental actors involved in the implementation of environmental policy in Spain are highly interdependent. Furthermore, environmental policy processes are characterised by a good deal of complex overlap of responsibilities among different levels of government. Some regional governments are also active in establishing contacts with public agencies or institutions other than the central administration.
