ABSTRACT
The basic approach advocated by Volker von Prittwitz; viz., to relate progress in European environmental cooperation to the different levels of environmental awareness in the countries concerned, which in turn are conditioned by economic and institutional capacities. The economic capacities, the simple correlation of high gross national product and high environmental ranking of state behavior in international relations — as implied by Martin Janicke and Harald Monch — may not suffice, and may actually be misleading. There are solid economic reasons for the newly found "environmental foreign policy" of industrialized countries. The institutional capacities, Prittwitz rightly emphasizes the significance of mechanisms for democratic public participation in decision-making, and public access to environmental information. The participation of non–governmental groups in international environmental regimes in Europe has been more intense than is generally known. The member state an opportunity for responding, the Commission can next render a "reasoned opinion" confirming the infringement in light of all the facts gathered.
