ABSTRACT
Nowadays, negotiated environmental agreements (NEAs) are a fashionable instrument. In the Netherlands, over a hundred NEAs (also referred to as covenants) have been signed between the Dutch government and Dutch industry. All participants seem very enthusiastic about this policy instrument, even the environmental movement who, in the beginning, were very sceptical: covenants were seen as an instrument of an undemocratic process in which third parties played no role.
