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

In this paper we seek to advance current understanding of uneven convergence in the context of EU environmental policy, and specifically, the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). Using a large-sample, quantitative methodology, we examine three broad sets of determinants hypothesised to influence geographic patterns of policy convergence: (1) cross-national market integration; (2) compatibility between the domestic regulatory context and European policy requirements; and (3) bottom-up pressure from market and societal actors. Our analysis provides empirical support for all three hypothesised determinants. Measures of import - export ties, regulatory burden, past policy adoptions, environmental demand from civil society, and levels of economic productivity are all found to be 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.