Transposition and Implementation
On its own, EU policy has little effect. Most environmental law first has - to some extent at least - to be transposed into national law and all EU policy has to change human behaviour before it can lead to improvements in the environment. Evaluating how the Member States transpose EU legislation into national or regional law, and how this is subsequently implemented is therefore essential in order to ascertain whether the original aims of EU legislation are being met, ie whether policies are effective. In addition the manner of transposition is important for future implementation. For example if a Directive has been transposed in a piecemeal fashion, as add-ons to existing regulations, its implementation in practice can become complicated and difficult to monitor.
Our most comprehensive endeavour in the area of EU policy implementation involves producing the 'Manual of Environmental Policy: The EU and Britain' which is updated by IEEP staff every six months. The Manual is widely respected as a source of reliable information and analysis of all EU environmental legislation and how it is developed, and how it is implemented in the UK.
IEEP undertakes work on a wide range of other aspects of transposition and implementation. Over the years we have been involved in many European Commission studies on implementation, including drafting Commission reports required under individual directives such as the habitats and birds Directives, as well as checking national compliance with sets of directives. In addition to work on the implementation of EU directives, IEEP has been involved in assessing the capacity of existing and acceding EU Member States to implement legislation.
IEEP's work in this area is conducted in partnership with the European Commission, government departments and agencies and non-governmental organisations. For a complete list of our reports that relate to transposition and implementation, please select 'Implementation' from the quick search menu.
For interviews, comment and articles, please contact our policy specialists Peter Hjerp, Marc Pallemaerts, Kristof Geeraerts
To complement IEEP's skills and expertise, we have established close links with the Centre for Law and Environment, University College London (UCL), which is respected for its expertise of national and Community law. IEEP and UCL have collaborated on several transposition studies covering a wide range of legislation and Member States.