Vehicle Emission Legislation in Europe: A Theoretical Institutional Approach

Technical transport regulations and policies differ from general rules in several respects. They do not only require a high amount of substantive and scientific expertise, they also call for a comprehensive approach of policy formulation and implementation, which encompasses the European, national and overall regional and local levels of government. Air quality in particular strongly concerns (sub-) national entities, despite the fact that formulation is undertaken at higher levels of government in European and pan-European arenas and venues, such as the European Union or the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. This paper therefore reflects on an adequate theoretical frame for grasping this specific policy issue to be addressed by the policy makers and bureaucrats. Discussing a normative, optimal model of policy-making, the policy cycle is utilised as a foil. At the meso level, complex actors are mapped for the selected case of air quality in Germany. It becomes obvious that generally, the policy cycle can be used as a heuristic. The specific technical nature of the issue, however, requires an integration of the analytical figures of agents and principals. The additional analysis of contractual relationships between these two types of actors facilitates a more profound analysis of this encompassing issue of air quality.