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Slow transposition of European environmental policies

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 2, page 914 (2018)Cite this article

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To the Editor — There is a firm commitment in Europe to integrating environmental questions across the policies of multiple sectors1. However, several pitfalls complicate the effective integration of environmental policies2, including unintended environmental side-effects and failures in coordination, compliance and enforcement. Our research has made us particularly aware of the problems of slow policy incorporation across multiple levels of governance.

Some impacts of European sectorial policies on the environment may be evident before policies are put into practice, or may appear soon after. But conflicts between policies are not always easy to predict, as illustrated by the impact of European sanitary regulations on European scavengers3. Regulations prohibiting the abandoning of livestock carcasses were implemented in 20004, and partly amended by derogations in 2009 and 20115,6, which allowed avian scavenger and carnivore species listed in Annex 2 of the European Habitats Directive to feed on dead livestock left in situ, especially in extensive farming systems. But these amendments arrived a decade too late — and in some regions have still not been implemented.

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Fig. 1

Antoni Margalida

References

  1. Environmental Integration (European Commission, 2016); http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/integration.htm

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  6. R egulation CE 142/2011 of 25 February 2011 Implementing Regulation (EC) No. 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council Laying Down Health Rules as Regards Animal By-Products and Derived Products Not Intended for Human Consumption and Implementing Council Directive 97/78/EC as Regards Certain Samples and Items Exempt from Veterinary Checks at the Border Under that Directive (European Commission, 2011); http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/ES/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32011R0142

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oviedo University, Mieres, Spain

    José Vicente López-Bao

  2. University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain

    Antoni Margalida

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  1. José Vicente López-Bao
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  2. Antoni Margalida
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Correspondence to José Vicente López-Bao.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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López-Bao, J.V., Margalida, A. Slow transposition of European environmental policies. Nat Ecol Evol 2, 914 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0565-8

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