Environmental governance in the EU

The goal-directed interventions typical of EU environmental management strategies are increasingly taking place alongside a new network governance approach. While much of what is called ‘new governance’ is little more than old wine being poured into new bottles, nevertheless there is some evidence of change, even if it is difficult to pin down in concrete cases. The new approach involves making use of the principle of partnership and shared responsibility and of new instruments for environmental policy (NIEP). The promotion of sustainable development provides the organising framework within which this new approach is situated. The development of a new mode of governance at the EU level is leading to a new process of governing. This throws up the problem of relating new models of governance to methods and practices of traditional government. Even if this problem could be solved, the fact remains that the environment is also a normative political issue, that it, it is a ‘wicked’ problem. As such, the EU will continue to find that, despite its new approach, environmental governability will remain difficult