Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Property Rights Change
Type of
Intervention
Property Rights
No Property
Rights Change
Natural Resources
Forestry
Market
Advisory/
Voluntary
Biodiversity
Economic
Water
Hierarchy
Regulatory
Soil
Regulatory
Area of Intervention
Market
Source: own figure.
Fig. 3.2
Four dimensions of a policy type
Institutional Compatibility of the EU Nitrate Directive
The EU Nitrate Directive (Council Directive 91/676/EEC) (EC
1991)
that was
adopted in 1991 can be seen as a prominent and typical example of an EU environ-
mental policy addressing water pollution. We take one of the core elements of this
Directive as an example to illustrate PICA: when implementing the EU Nitrate
Directive Member States have to draw up and implement action programmes in
vulnerable zones designated before that shall consist of mandatory rules. These rules
determine, e.g., periods when the application of certain types of fertiliser is prohib-
ited, and limitations of the application rates of fertilisers taking into account the
characteristics of the zones concerned, in particular soil conditions, soil type, slope,
land use, and agricultural practices (see Annex III of the Directive). Furthermore,
Member States have to establish suitable monitoring and enforcement systems to
ensure actors' compliance with the rules.
Being aware that the EU Nitrate Directive comprises more and different policy
elements that can be combined in diversified ways, to illustrate PICA we only refer
to the element of uncompensated and mandatory production restrictions in previ-
ously defined vulnerable zones. We focus on this element of the EU Nitrate
Directive and treat it as a single policy instrument and, therewith, abstract from
distorting effects due to the other - certainly interdependent - policy elements that
would also be implemented when the Directive were to be introduced.
