Implementation and integration of EU environmental directives. Experiences from The Netherlands

Abstract: European integration has consequences for environmental planning in the European Union. Recent evaluations of the European Commission show that implementation of environmental directives proves to be a challenging task for the responsible authorities. This paper discusses the relation between the implementation of the Water Framework Directive and the Birds and Habitats Directives in The Netherlands. Studies from this member state show that legal and procedural aspects of planning and decision making gain the most attention and that environmental goals are fading into the background. The paper studies the integration of the two directives from a policy and practice perspective and discuss the difficulties that arise in the implementation process.