Differential Effects of Enlargement on EU Environmental Governance

This contribution examines the potential impact of eastern enlargement on EU environmental governance. Whereas some observers see eastern enlargement as a potential threat to EU environmental governance, this contribution argues that it should be seen as an opportunity to intensify ongoing reform efforts. This view is based on three main premises. First, enlargement is likely to have a differential effect on the three governance regimes which together constitute EU environmental policy. Second, the threat that enlargement poses to one of these regimes is in fact already producing reactions that may allow the regime to continue to operate in the context of an enlarged EU. Third, enlargement may reinforce emerging shifts among the regimes, which answer to the larger challenge of sustainable development.