Of Europeanization and domestication: the implementation of the environmental information directive in Ireland, Great Britain and Germany

Abstract:

This paper seeks to develop a new understanding of the implementation of EU policies as a mixed process of both Europeanization and domestication. While some scholars equate the implementation of EU policies with Europeanization, this fails to capture the dominance of national factors and the relative impact of EU policies. The implementation of EU policies is best conceptualized as a blend of effective EU influence over domestic policy choices in a given policy area - defined as Europeanization - and of domestic choices of non-prescribed or non-recommended policy options in the same policy area - which is termed domestication. Domestication and Europeanization usually work as complementary forces. These concepts are employed for an analysis of the implementation of the 1990 EU Directive on Access to Environmental Information in Ireland, Britain and Germany.