1 / 10

David Vogel, 2003

The Hare and the Tortoise Revisited: The New Politics of Consumer and Environmental Regulation in Europe. David Vogel, 2003. Science, Technology and Public Policy. Key points. Comparison of stringency and innovation of environmental and safety regulations in Europe and the U.S.

yadid
Download Presentation

David Vogel, 2003

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Hare and the Tortoise Revisited:The New Politics of Consumer and Environmental Regulation in Europe David Vogel, 2003 Science, Technology and Public Policy

  2. Key points • Comparison of stringency and innovation of environmental and safety regulations in Europe and the U.S. • “Since around 1990 the American Hare has been moving forward at a Tortoise pace, while since the mid 1980s the pace of the European Tortoise resembles that of a Hare.” - Lennart Lundqvist -

  3. Different pace • Until 1990 • Since mid 1980s US EU US EU

  4. Environmental and safety regulations in the US1960s until 1990 • 1958: Delaney clause to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act • 1970: Catalytic converter, unleaded gasoline • 1971: Ban of DDT • 1977: Prohibition of CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons)

  5. Environmental and safety regulations in the EUsince mid 1980s • 1985: Growth hormones for cattle banned • 1990s: Regulations of Genetically modified seeds and foods • 1997: Ratification of the Kyoto Protocol • 2000: Automobile recycling regulations  Precautionary principle

  6. The European present and the American past • European present • “Wealthy, well-educated Europe is regularly swept by frightening reports of new dangers said to be inherent in contemporary life ... Americans have health concerns, too, but not on this scale. The year is two months old and already in 2001 public opinion and public officials have been rattled by alarms over risks -proven and not -from genetically modified corn, hormone fed beef and pork, ‘mad-cow’disease, narrow airline seats said to cause blood clots and cellular phones said to cause brain damage.” - Washington Post in the spring of 2001 -

  7. The European present and the American past • American past • “We saw the Americans thrashing around from one pollution scare to the next, and we were mildly amused. One moment it was cyclamates, mercury the next, then ozone, lead, cadmium -over there they seemed set on working their way in a random manner through the whole periodic table.” - British journalist in 1971 -

  8. Reasons for Europe’s speed-up • A series of regulatory failures and crises • Chernobyl, Schweizerhalle, mad cow disease, HIV contaminated blood, dioxin contamination of food products • Broader citizen support for more risk-averse regulatory policies within Europe • Growth of the regulatory competence of the EU

  9. Reasons for America’s slowdown • Absence of major regulatory failures in the U.S. • Republican Party’s control of one or more Houses of Congress • Growing conservatism • Business pressures • NGOs focused on maintaining the regulatory status quo rather than expanding regulations

  10. Conclusions • Policy dynamic (speed-up) • Policy makers become more likely to adopt more comprehensive and risk averse policies • Policy making becomes more open and transparent to non-industry influences • Policy dynamic does not last forever (slowdown)

More Related