Environmental Compliance in Italy and Greece: The Role of Non-state Actors

Both Italy and Greece experience considerable problems in adjusting to the underlining logic and the precise requirements of EU environmental policies. Their poor record of compliance with EU environmental legislation is often attributed to an alleged weakness of civil societal activism in environmental matters. Recent literature challenges these conventional assumptions by offering evidence of high levels of grassroots environmental mobilisations. This article seeks to add a new dimension to the study of societal impact on policy outcomes in terms of domestic compliance performance with EU environmental legislation. It suggests a number of empirical indicators related to the use of opportunities offered by EU institutions, such as the complaints procedure, that allow such an assessment in comparative perspective.