The Struggle Within - Examining the presence of ʼwin-winʼ solutions in EU environmental legislation

Abstract

Previous research point strongly to economic growth and competitiveness being the primary interests of the European Union (EU). This interest influences all policy areas including environment. However, combining economic development with environmental protection is widely recognized as a difficult task. This thesis aims at finding empirical evidence of the so-called ’win-win’ concept of Ecological Modernization in the formation and adoption of EU environmental legislation. ‘Win-win’ is the theoretical possibility of finding mutually beneficial solutions for economy and environment. A case study has been conducted using three EU policy areas with different levels of theoretical tension between economic and environmental interests. Three environmental legislative acts and their respective proposals from each policy area have been examined. A qualitative text analysis with an analytical tool based on ecological modernization, controlled against two adjacent environmental discourses, have been used for this task. The results show that ‘win-win’ notions based on ecological modernization have been successfully included in legislation from the policy area with weak tension, and somewhat successfully included in the one with moderate tension. When strong tension is present, an unbalanced consideration in favor of environment has instead been found. This could indicate a strong EU devotion to protecting the environment, or that stringent environmental legislation is necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market. Overall, the innovation capacity and level of support from affected stakeholders within a policy area seems to affect the inclusion of ‘win-win’ solutions.