Europeanisation and the uneven convergence of environmental policy: explaining the geography of EMAS

This paper seeks to advance current understanding of uneven convergence in the context of EU environmental policy, and specifically, the Eco- Managemen t and Audit Scheme (EMAS). Using a large sample, quantitative methodology, we examine three broad sets of determinants hypothesised to influence geogr aphic patterns of policy convergence: (1) cross-national market integration; (2) compatibility between the domestic regulatory context and European po licy requirements; and (3) bottom-up pressure from market and societal actors. Our analysis provides empirical support for all three hypothesised dete rminants. We find that measures of import-export ties, regulatory burden, past policy adoptions, environmental demand from civil society and levels of economic productivity, are all statistically significant predictors of national EMAS counts. Against a backdrop of geographically diverse regulatory institutions, societal conditions and trading relationships, we conclude that unevenness ! is an inevitable feature of Europeanisation.