This book, through various differently oriented chapters, tries to give an insight on how the European Union and its multilevel model of governance must try to strike a balance between diverging interests and priorities. In particular, the EU and the European states (including the CoE's Members)...

With paroxysm of technology due to new invention and innovations, nation across the world are experiencing extreme developmental activity. Though these activities meant for betterment of society but on the contrary it is posing threat to natural environment. The damages could be water pollution,...

The state of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the European Union (EU) in the context of the EU framework governing business and human rights (B&HR) is worthy of consideration. This chapter follows the top-down approach: it explores the relevant EU legal and policy...

This chapter discusses the basic obligations for national product safety regulations imposed by the TBT Agreement, and gives a general picture of the rules on technical standards that are applicable in the relations between China and its trading partners. The first section defines the scope of...

Although agriculture could contribute substantially to European emission reductions, its mitigation potential lies untapped and dormant. Market-based instruments could be pivotal in incentivizing cost-effective abatement. However, sector specificities in transaction costs, leakage risks and...

Hydraulic fracturing has been the subject of much debate recently, both in the United States and increasingly in Europe. Advances in hydraulic fracturing technology have led to a shale gas boom in the United States, significantly lowering natural gas prices, and causing some foreign businesses...

Das ökonomische Potential des Einsatzes von Ausschreibungen für Umweltleistungen konnte nunmehr auch in Europa aufgezeigt werden. Jedoch stellen diese Modellprojekte bislang nur einen ersten Schritt auf dem Weg zur Implementierung von Ausschreibungen in europäische Politikmaßnahmen dar. Dies...

This paper elicits local and semi-local citizens' preferences for water quality attributes explicitly related to the water framework directive. A river basin in southeast of Sweden is used as a case study. The sample consists of 502 respondents living in the municipalities through which the...

This paper deals with designing emissions trading in practice. After a short introduction to the general idea of emissions trading, practical requirements for the introduction of an emissions trading scheme are considered, including the temporal and spatial dimension as well as administrative...

Socio-ecological transitions are a main project, current EU policies, national environmental politics, and regional as well as local action address. Manifold approaches exist and the European Union is anxious to coordinate and facilitate the process of a consolidated transition. Therefore, a...