ABSTRACT
New governance—understood as a non-hierarchical mode of governing, emphasising co-operation between state and private actors—is one of the keywords when discussing policy-making in the European Union (EU). The governance debate features most controversially in the areas of regulatory policy, especially in the field of social and environmental regulation. This chapter begins with a portrayal of the typical rules and processes that characterise the way in which power is exercised and (environmental) policy is made in the EU. It elaborates on reforms and new approaches—both in the process of policy-making and in the choice of policy instruments. The environmental policy agenda emerges from a wide range of values, interest as well as crises. Three particular aspects are particularly notable in the environmental policy domain: the dominant norm of market liberalisation in the EU; the Commission torn between opportunistic, reactive and prospective behaviour; and the role of special interests between participation and capture.
