- Startseite >>
- English >>
- European union
Cooperation in the Field of European Policy
Cooperation with European Institutions and Organisations
A central aspect of cooperation with European institutions and interest groupings is the opportunity it opens up for influencing the European legislative process given the overriding dominance of European regulations. As an example, close on 80% of German environmental law is determined by Brussels, while in the food sector it is as much as 100 %, and a similar trend is already becoming apparent in the field of legal and economic consumer protection. This situation affects the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Public Health (StMUG) in two ways: on the one hand, it is essential to ensure that matters of major concern to Bavarian environmental and public health policy are considered in the EU legislative process, while on the other any excessive or misplaced regulation, e.g. in the form of unsatisfactory implementation of the principle of subsidiarity, incoherence in EU environmental law, exaggerated reporting obligations or too stringent or unreasonable standards are to be avoided.
Safeguarding Bavarian Environmental and Public Health Interests in the EU Legislative Process
All the options open to the German states (Laender) for influencing the European legislative process start with the institutions involved in the legislative process and can be of both a formal and informal nature. The informal options generally take effect earlier, i.e. while the EU legislative process is still in preparation, whereas the formal ways of exercising influence only assume relevance during the actuallegislative process. The formal possibilities open to the Laender include:
- Participation of the Länder:
By inserting Art. 23, known as the “Europe Clause”, into the Basic Law, the rights of the Laender to participate in EU matters were substantially enhanced. Implementation of this Article is governed by the German Act on Cooperation between the Federation and the Federal States [Laender] in European Union Affairs (EUZBLG) and the BLV Agreement between the Federation and Laender. They stipulate that the Federal Government must provide the Bundesrat with timely and comprehensive information about all planned EU legislation that could be of interest to the Laender and give the Bundesrat the opportunity to issue a statement before it establishes its own negotiating position. - Conferences of Departmental Ministers:
The conferences of departmental ministers of the Laender regularly address topics relating to European policies and often help to prepare for Bundesrat decisions. The main conferences of relevance to the Bavarian Ministry of the Environment and Public Health are the Conference of Environmental Ministers, the Conference of Public Health Ministers, the Conference of Labour and Social Welfare Ministers and the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture. Another possible form of influence is through the standing conference of European Ministers of the Laender (EMK), where the Laender coordinate their European-policy interests and share information and experience. - Committee of the Regions (CoR):
As the European body representing the interests of regional and local authorities in the EU, the CoR complements the efforts of the Laender to participate in EU matters. However, the CoR only has the right to issue statements, it does not hold any direct right to have a say in the European legislative process.
In effect, there are comparatively few formal options available to the European regions for influencing the European legislative process. The informal options therefore assume all the more importance. The first step should be to approach the institutions involved in the legislative process.
- European Parliament:
Influence is exercised here mainly by proposing motions for amendments and establishing contact with the Bavarian MEPs. - European Commission:
Direct contact with the representatives in the European Commission in charge of the environment and public health is another way of informally exercising influence over that institution holding the power of initiative for Community regulations. Moreover, the StMUG has already on several occasions delegated suitably qualified officials to the Commission to work there for limited periods as so-called national experts and to report to Bavaria on current developments and, where applicable, existing plans in the Commission.
In addition to the official legislative authorities, the network of state representations and regional interest organisations, which has in the meantime been set up on EU level, offers numerous ways of presenting environmental and public health-related interests. The following deserve particular mention
- the Working Party of Environmental Advisors of the German state representations in Brussels, the Working Party of Public Health Advisors and the Working Party for Social Affairs (focusing among other things on work safety). The aim of these three bodies, also referred to as the “voice of the German Laender to the Commission”, is on the one hand to provide reciprocal and cross-party information and, on the other, to present the interests of the Laender to the Commission in the pre-legislative process. Furthermore, close contacts are maintained with colleagues in the state representations to the Federal authorities in Berlin and with other European institutions such as, for example, the European Environmental Agency in Copenhagen or the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Parma.
- the Environment Conference of the Regions of Europe (ENCORE). ENCORE was the first technical forum to be created for the political decision-makers of the European regions. Its aim is to enhance the role of the regions in the development and implementation of environmental and sustainable policies on regional, national, European and international level. Since 2002, Bavaria has represented the German Laender in the ENCORE steering group.
- IMPEL, the Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of EC Environmental Law of the supreme supervisory authorities of all member states in the EU. Since the enforcement of environmental law falls within the sole competence of the member states and/or regions, IMPEL, as an intergovernmental network, directs its attention in particular on the harmonisation and facilitation of enforcement and simultaneously counteracts any attempts by the Commission to issue enforcement rules. Alongside North-Rhine Westphalia, Bavaria ensures the networking of the German Laender in IMPEL.
- Partnerships, e.g. as a result of twinning schemes or support programmes, are another way of exercising joint and targeted influence on the European legislative process. One example is the successful cooperation with Great Britain and Denmark during the legislative process for the Water Framework Directive.
