Aron Buzogány

Environmental organisations and the Europeanisation of public policy in Central and Eastern Europe: the case of biodiversity governance

How has Europeanisation of environmental policy, as represented by the adoption of European Union (EU) biodiversity policies, influenced the agendas and repertoires of action employed by environmental non-governmental organisations (ENGOs) in Hungary, Poland and Romania? The EUs environmental acquis gave ENGOs new and often forceful tools to reach their aims by emphasising the importance of collaborative relations between state and non-state actors and by offering opportunities to civil society actors to circumvent their national governments in the policy process. Implementation of the EUs Natura 2000 network in Hungary, Poland and Romania further reinforced endogenously driven professionalisation and institutionalisation of civil society groups. While EU accession benefited from the expertise of professional ENGOs, the logic of the accession process together with the weakness of both state actors and civil society has not led to the development of sustainable cooperative state–society relations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

Varieties of capitalism and clean energy transitions in the European Union: When renewable energy hits different economic logics

Renewable energy sources are central to building low-carbon energy systems but there is little secured knowledge about the structural factors that shape national renewable energy policies and energy transition pathways. Drawing on the literature on ‘varieties of capitalism’ , this article offers an in-depth account of the evolution and impact of renewable energy policies in two countries that are commonly labelled in the literature as two opposite forms of capitalism: ‘coordinative market economy’ (CME) in Germany and ‘liberal market economy’ (LME) in the UK. Based on recent political economy literature, this dual perspective is complemented by including a third subtype, ‘dependent market economies’ (DMEs), which are found in the transition states of central and eastern Europe. The analysis reveals an initial convergence of the three varieties of capitalism towards stronger government involvement and CME-style targeted policy measures. The effectiveness and scope of these measures, however, continues to be constrained by the political economic settings. More recently, centralization and market-based renewable energy governance has gained the upper hand at both national and EU-level. The article concludes with emphasizing the risks of national and EU climate and energy policies driven by short-termism and cost-effectiveness for both renewable energy and climate change goals in the long-run. Policy relevance The article has policy implications for EU and national policy makers and stakeholders concerned with renewable energy and climate change governance. It underlines the need for comprehensive renewable energy policies targeting domestic market creation and industrial development as well as civic participation. Domestic and external constraints that different varieties of capitalism within the EU face in advancing these three components of renewable energy development are emphasized. The article stresses the need for enhanced coordination and balanced development of renewable energy sectors across all EU economies as essential for achieving climate change goals and a genuine low-carbon energy transition.

Selective Adoption of EU Environmental Norms in Ukraine. Convergence á la Carte

While the EUs policies towards non-member states are often discussed within frameworks of ‘high politics’, one of the most important features of the European Neighbourhood Policy is its emphasis on the ‘low politics’ of sectoral dialogue in functionally differentiated policy fields. Examining policy change triggered in Ukraine by the EUs neighbourhood policy framework, the essay focuses on environmental policy as a typical ‘low politics’ policy field. The results show that in four sub-fields of environmental policy case-specific constellations of domestic veto players, policy-specific conditionality and external capacity building determine domestic policy change.

Illiberal democracy in Hungary: authoritarian diffusion or domestic causation?

ABSTRACT This article analyses the democratic involution in Hungary, which was followed by the country embracing a pro-Russian policy in 2010. These processes came to be viewed as a rare case of authoritarian diffusion taking place towards an EU member state. Based on the discussion of interest versus ideational appeal as factors of authoritarian diffusion, the article develops a relational and dynamic framework to analyse the question of authoritarian diffusion. The framework underlines the importance not only of “sender state” attributes, but also those of receiver states. The analysis finds no empirical evidence for authoritarian diffusion; Hungary’s slide into illiberalism was not inspired or supported by Vladimir Putin. Instead, mutual interests are sufficient to understand Russo-Hungarian cooperation.

Hungary: The Tricky Path of Building Environmental Governance

Hungary’s accession to the European Union (EU) has largely overlapped with the dual processes of democratization and marketization of the country. By applying for EU membership, Hungary has not only locked in its political and economic transition, it has also committed itself to harmonizing its domestic legislation with the acquis communautaire. The ‘anticipatory and adaptive Europeanization’ (Agh, 1999) of public policies following from this commitment entailed institutional and financial challenges, which went far beyond what Spain, Portugal and Greece had had to cope with. The CEE states were confronted with a growing and ever more complex system of EU regulations. Moreover, the EU has been also much more demanding in its requirements for membership than was the case with the earlier accessions. In addition to the adoption of the acquis, the CEE accession countries were asked to build the institutional and administrative capacities necessary to make EU polices work on the ground.

Administrative Reform and Regional Development Discourses in Hungary. Europeanisation Going NUTS

Starting from the empirical observation of high levels of absorption of EU cohesion funds but strikingly low levels of substantive change in regional cohesion, this essay offers a contextual analysis of regional development policies in Hungary. Based on theoretical frameworks dealing with Europeanisation, new regionalism and participative development, it explores the reasons for this observation by analysing the role of administrative and planning structures and of development discourses. The essay shows that the Europeanisation of regional development policy triggered several changes in the planning process and led to the partial inclusion of new actors. However, the main effect of this was a growing centralisation of development policy making. The essay explains this by pointing to the domestic political context and the historical foundations of regional development discourses of the conservative and leftist liberal parties. While there are overlaps between the discourses on both sides of the ideological divide, they are perceived as incompatible by political actors. Thus, it is argued that considerations of political power, rather than ideological nature, shape Hungarian regional and development policy and explain the incremental reform process.

EU-Russia regulatory competition and business interests in post-Soviet countries: the case of forestry and chemical security in Ukraine

A central aspect of the EU’s influence over countries located in its neighborhood consists in its ability to export regulatory governance arrangements beyond its borders. Taking the example of developments in the field of forestry and chemical security management in Ukraine, this contribution underlines the importance of the interplay between domestic and external interests by pointing to macro-political and micro-political (i.e. sectoral) dynamics. While the first case study illustrates how inter-sectoral conflict can hamper harmonization with EU rules, the second shows that macro-political decisions relating to the geopolitical orientation of the state can override sectoral logics.

Building governance on fragile grounds: lessonsfrom Romania:

Establishing structures of environmental governance is an important goal of external policy actors but a notoriously difficult one to achieve in states with weak regulatory capacities. Building on newer developments in governance research, this contribution offers contextual specifications for factors mediating external regulatory influence. The paper analyses the emergence and the effectiveness of environmental governance in two explorative case studies dealing with the provision of drinking water and, respectively, nature protection from Romania. The main finding is that external influence can lead to the emergence of new modes of environmental governance if supported by capable sectoral administration and pro-change stakeholders.

Koalitionen von Parteien

Die Kritik an den Parteien ist allgegenwartig und kann – nicht nur in Deutschland – auf eine lange Tradition zuruckblicken. In ihren Ursprungen reicht sie bis zum Beginn der demokratischen Entwicklung zuruck, die mit dem aufk ommenden Parteiwesen aufs engste verbunden ist. Dieses historische Verdienst, wenn es uberhaupt ins Bewusstsein tritt, wird den Parteien allerdings nicht gedankt.

Spokes in the wheel. European affairs and the parliamentary administration of German Landtage

ABSTRACT Over the last decades, regional parliaments were considered to play a minor role in European affairs. Not only was the salience of the EU low at the regional level, but politicians elected into these bodies also often lacked vested interests and capacities to become more involved in dealing with complex multi-level questions. After the constitutional strengthening of regional parliaments in EU decision-making, this paper considers one under-researched aspect behind the growing appetite of regional parliaments to become more involved in the scrutiny of EU affairs: the role of unelected parliamentary officials. Based on qualitative interviews in 12 German regional parliaments, the authors highlight how regional parliaments exert control over their governments and what role horizontal administrative networks among parliamentary staff play in the engagement of regional parliaments in EU affairs.