ABSTRACT
The political debate surrounding agriculture and the environment in the United Kingdom (UK) began in the 1970s, and rapidly gathered pace during the 1980s. While the targeted agri-environmental programme established in the UK through the Environmentally Sensitive Areas scheme in the mid-1980s was ideally suited to Regulation 797/85, Regulation 2078 had a broader remit that required countries to establish more holistic schemes also aimed at the protection of the wider countryside. Unlike the UK's relatively progressive position as a 'policy shaper' during implementation of Regulation 797/85 in 1985, implementation of Regulation 2078 has been more problematic. Regulation 2078, however, had a different remit and was 'imposed' onto UK policy-makers rather than being shaped by British interests, thereby putting the UK in a role of 'policy receiver'. The UK approach, therefore, differs from countries such as Denmark or Germany where agricultural pollution issues have been at the forefront of agri-environmental debates.
