Are the ‘laggard states’ obstinate or just inefficient? A study of the EU member states’ compliance with EU environmental legislation 2012- 2016

Abstract: Despite the fact that EU environmental policy has become increasingly important, the EU member states are struggling to comply with environmental legislation decided on the European level. Interestingly, some member states seem to find it more difficult than others. This thesis seeks to explain the cross-national variation in non-compliance with EU environmental law, that is, why some member states violate it more frequently than others. In order to explain such variance in non-compliance, this thesis draws on two prominent approaches in the compliance literature: the enforcement approach, which emphasizes member states’ willingness, and the management approach which stresses member states’ capacities to comply. The findings of this thesis suggest that these two approaches should be combined and not treated separately to maximise their explanatory power. Politically more powerful member states with weak or moderate government effectiveness tend to breach EU environmental law more often than politically weaker member states with moderate or strong government effectiveness. Moreover, member states with low government autonomy are more likely to breach EU environmental law, even though government effectiveness seems to mitigate these negative effects to some extent.