Environmental management standards, corporate strategies and policy networks

The establishment of environmental management systems is part of the shift away from command and control policies to more flexible policy instruments, giving firms more scope to decide for themselves what the best practicable options are. As a result of this ‘shared responsibility’ between public and private actors in environmental issues, the development of environmental management systems is a good example of a policy network with a core group of actors involved in shaping the environmental agenda. This article investigates the role of policy networks in developing the British environmental management standard (BS 7750) and the European Union eco‐management audit (EMAS). The policy network approach is useful in isolating the role of a diverse range of actors and their impact on the EU policy process. The history of environmental management standards suggests that key actors in the negotiations process are found at different levels of the EU process, ranging from the national to the global. This indicates a multi‐level governance process that substantially influences EU outcomes.