Jean Monnet Module on Agenda‐Setting in the European Union – ASEU Agenda‐Setting Processes in EU Environmental Policy. Marie Briguglio (University of Malta) marie.briguglio@um.edu.mt Description This lecture covers essential topics in the field of EU environmental policy. We start by looking at the sources which inform us on the pressures on and status of the European environment. We quickly turn to environmental economic theory for insights as to whether this state of affairs merits intervention, and to what extent. In considering the implications of intervention, we examine the costs, the benefits and distributional aspects, touching upon the different implications of diverse policy instruments. We then focus on the justification or otherwise of intervention at supranational – European Union – level, examining arguments that often feature in negotiation of proposed EU acquis. This provides the necessary backdrop against which to examine the rich environmental acquis and the actual role of EU – and national ‐ institutions in environmental policy. The class is also invited to participate in a two hour workshop which will provide the opportunity to use the concepts presented in a practical negotiation session. Outline Part 1: The pressures on and status of the European environment. Does this justify intervention? Market failure and government failure. Who benefits? Who loses? Distributional and efficiency considerations. What tools? Implications of diverse policy instruments. Supranational intervention? Intervention at European Union level Part 2: The environmental Acquis, institutions and agenda in environmental matters Recap of concepts Workshop (1 hour) Readings Gatsios, Konstantine and Seabright (1989), Regulation in the European Community, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, vol 5, nr 2, pp 37‐60 Malta EU Information Centre, 2002, Lengthy talks on Malta’s environment draw to a close Aggornat ed 14. 1
Goulder LH, Parry IWH. Instrument choice in environmental policy. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy. 2008 July 01;2(2):152‐74. The economic benefits of environmental policy (2010): Final Report State of the European environment: HTTP://WWW.EEA.EUROPA.EU/ Pipeline acquis is downloadable from http://ec.europa.eu/prelex/apcnet.cfm?CL=en Bionote Marie Briguglio graduated with First Class Honours in Economics from the University of Malta and completed a Master of Science degree in Economics at University College London in 1994 with Distinction. Having held various civil senior service positions in Malta and worked on assignment for UNEP, the EU and various EU candidate countries, she took up a full‐time lecturing position at the University of Malta in 2011. She lectures on Environmental Economics, Behavioural Economics and Social Marketing and is a doctoral candidate at the Behavioural Science Centre of the University of Stirling, where she is conducting research in the field of Behavioural Economics. Marie is also an award‐winning screen‐writer. 2