The policy transfer of environmental policy integration: path dependency, route flexibility, or the Hungarian way?

ABSTRACT

The idea of Environmental Policy Integration (EPI) and the policy tool Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) have come to the fore in European policy making over the past two decades. This article examines the introduction and implementation of SEA at national and sub-national levels in Hungary. It evaluates the factors affecting the process of international lesson-drawing in environmental policy based on empirical evidence. The article concludes that, just like in other policy fields, the process of lesson-drawing has been shaped and constrained by domestic governance structures and key endogenous factors embedded in socio-cultural settings. Structure and factors are featured by transience and path dependency at the same time. Hierarchical governance has the most significant influence on the process excluding voluntary forms of policy transfer hence resulting in the application of a stapled EPI, formal, instead of substantive transfer. Environmental policy transfer at the local level is problematic due to the low capacity and the lack of the financial means and human resources. It suggests that the EU principles of subsidiarity have been undermined. The article therefore makes an important contribution to understanding the key obstacles of (environmental) policy transfer. Additionally, reforming the theory of policy integration the author argues that beside the transactive, substantive and procedural aspects (the level of) path dependency should be taken into consideration to a better grasp of the effectiveness of policy transfer.

KEYWORDS:

• Environmental policy integration (EPI)
• strategic environmental assessment (SEA)
• regional development
• policy learning

Acknowledgement

The author thanks to Marcin Dąbrowski and Laura Polverari for their valuable help in an earlier version of this article. The author thanks to Ilona Pálné Kovács for her supervision and advice especially during the G-FORS project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 ISPA/CF ex-post evaluation, WP D: Implementation and management (2000-2006/2010), led by Strathclyde University-Fraser Association. The Hungarian case was conducted by the author.

2 https://www.eea.europa.eu/environmental-time-line/1970s

3 There is an additional term which has often been used recently: environmental governance. This concept is closely related to the processes of collective decision-making that are deployed to protect the environment and resolve conflicts over natural resources (Tacconi 2011; Paavola 2007; Driessen et al. 2012; Van der Molen, Van der Windt, and Swart 2016, 436)

4 G-FORS – Governance for Sustainability – Research Coordinator: Metropolitan Region of Hannover, Regional and European Affairs, Hannover

5 New driving forces of spatial restructuring and regional development paths in Eastern Europe at the beginning of 21st century

6 Similar surveys were conducted in Slovakia and Romania.

7 ÁROP 1.1.22-2012-2012-001 project

8 KÖFOP-2.3.3-VEKOP-16-2016-00001 project

9 Good planning ideas raised by regional planners were tailored into the national development plans, while the rest remains in the ROPs.

10 Formerly known as National Authority for the Environment, Nature Protection and Water Management, with regional authorities.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) has disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Bolyai János Research Scholarship; the G-FORS – Governance for Sustainability, FP6 project; the OTKA-“New driving forces of spatial restructuring and regional development paths in Eastern Europe at the beginning of twenty-first century” project [NK:104985]; ÁROP 1.1.22-2012-2012-001 project; KÖFOP-2.3.3-VEKOP-16-2016-00001 project.

Notes on contributors

Viktor Varjú

Viktor Varjú (PhD – Earth sciences) is Senior Research Fellow at the CERS Institute for Regional Studies. He holds master’s degrees in geography and sociology. His main research areas are social aspects of regional development, renewable energy, circular economy, environmental policy (integration) and other environmental-related topics. He has been the author, co-author or editor of 120 publications in the field. He has been project leader of the Hungarian team in IPA, Interreg and H2020 projects in the field of renewable energy transition and social aspects of circular economy.