TO IMPLEMENT, OR NOT TO IMPLEMENT, THAT IS THE QUESTION - The role of non-state actors in environmental policy implementation in Serbia

Abstract

This thesis analyses what roles non-state actors plays in practical environmental policy implementation in Serbia. European environmental policies have been particularly difficult for new EU-member states and candidate countries to adhere to over the years. With an increasingly progressive and climate ambitious EU, this poses the question of how candidate countries can adapt, and practically implement these policies. Through the concept of Europeanization, based on rational and sociological institutionalism, this paper reflects upon how the EU and European policies affect domestic policies in Serbia, by looking at their practical implementation of environmental policies. This will be measured by focusing on what role non-state actors play in practical policy implementation, as these play a key role in EU enlargement negotiations. Previous studies regarding Europeanization have mainly focused on legal and formal implementation of EU-laws in European countries, and/or on the Central Eastern European countries (CEE). Less attention has been given to the practical implementation of environmental policies, especially in the South East European (SEE) countries. Using Serbia as a case study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives from Serbian NGOs, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the European Commission (EC) and the EU Environment Partnership Programme for Accession (EPPA). Findings include that the non-state actor’s main role have been to consult the government, to monitor the development of the EU-accession negotiations and to raise public debate. Although not a small role in itself, the potential role based on the opportunities that EU-enlargement presents is not as large as might be expected in other contexts. As an example, the lacking capacity of the Serbian government could be complemented by the competence of non-state actors as has been seen in other CEE countries.