European Union (EU) member states have at times failed to implement EU directives, thus falling short of their treaty obligations. Implementation is crucial to this loosely quasifederal organization because compliance is the foundation of cooperation in Europe. This paper addresses the inability of states to comply and state reluctance to conform. I demonstrate that cross-national factors rather than idiosyncratic characteristics are responsible for non-compliance. I have crafted hypotheses regarding implementation that can be tested in a systematic fashion. Using count data of infringements, I use negative binomial regression to test the hypotheses. I find modest support for many of the hypotheses in the literature, but little support for others. Bureaucratic efficiency, corruption, power in the Council of Ministers, economic power, length of membership, and public approval of EU membership are the most important predictors of compliance.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aguilar-Fernandez, Susana
(1994) `Spanish Pollution Control Policy and the Challenge of the European Union', Regional Politics and Policy4(1): 102-117.
2.
Alter, Karen J.
(1998) `Who Are the “Masters of the Treaty”?: European Governments and the European Court of Justice', International Organization52(1): 121-147.
3.
Auer, Astrid
, Christophe Demmke and Robert Polet (1996) Civil Services in the Europe of the Fifteen: Current Situation and Prospects.Maastrict: European Institute of Public Administration.
4.
Beck, Nathaniel
and Jonathan N. Katz (1995) `What to Do (and Not to Do) with Time-Series Cross-Section Data', American Political Science Review89(3): 634-647.
5.
Chayes, Abram
and Antonia Chandler Chayes (1991) `Adjustment and Compliance in International Regulatory Regimes' in Jessica Tuchman Matthews (ed.) Preserving the Global Environment: The challenge of shared leadership.New York: Norton.
6.
Chayes, Abram
and Antonia Chandler Chayes (1993) `On Compliance', International Organization47: 175-205.
7.
Commission of the European Communities
(1998) Treaty Establishing the European Community (TEC).Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
8.
Court of Justice of the European Communities
(1995) Bulletin of Proceedings 1992-1994.Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
9.
Court of Justice of the European Communities
(1969 to 1995) Reports of Cases Before the Court. Volumes 1969 to 1995, inclusive. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
10.
Coyle, Carmel
(1994) `Administrative Capacity and the Implementation of EU Environmental Policy in Ireland', Regional Politics and Policy4(1): 62-79.
11.
Cusack, Thomas R.
(1991) `The Changing Contours of Government', Discussion Paper of the International Relations Research Group, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung.
12.
Downs, George
, David Rocke and Peter N. Barsoom (1996) `Is the Good News about Compliance Good News about Cooperation?', International Organization50: 379-406.
13.
Fearon, James D.
(1998) `Bargaining, Enforcement, and International Cooperation', International Organization52(2): 269-305.
14.
Fernandez-Martin, José
(1996) The EC Public Procurement Rules.Oxford: Clarendon Press.
15.
Forbes, Ian
(1989) `Unequal Partners: The Implementation of Equal Opportunities Policies in Western Europe', Public Administration67: 19-38.
16.
Furlong, Paul
and Andrew Cox (eds) (1995) The European Union at the Crossroads: Problems in Implementing the Single Market Project.Lincolnshire: Earlsgate Press.
17.
Garrett, Geoffrey R.
, Daniel Kelemen and Heiner Shultz (1998) `The ECJ, Governments, and Legal Integration', International Organization52(1): 149-176.
18.
Haverland, Marcus
(1999) National Adaptation to European Integration: The Importance of Institutional Veto Points.San Domenico: EUI Working Paper RSC No. 99/17.
19.
Hayes-Renshaw, Fiona
and Helen S. Wallace (1997) The Council of Ministers.New York: St. Martin's Press.
20.
Henkin, Louis
(1979) How Nations Behave: Law and Foreign Policy.New York: published for the Council on Foreign Relations by Columbia University Press.
21.
Hooghe, Liesbet
and Gary Marks (2000) European Integration and Multi-level Governance.Boulder, CO: Rowman & Littlefield.
22.
Inglehart, Ronald
, Karlheinz Reif and Anna Melich (1994) European Communities Studies, 1970-1992: Cumulative File [computer file], 3rd ICPSR version. Ann Arbor: Ronald Inglehart (producer); Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (distributor).
23.
Internet Center for Corruption Research
(2001) Internet Corruption Perception Index - Historical Data. URL (accessed 26 January 2001) http://www.gwdg.de/~uwvw/histor.htm.
24.
Knill, Christophe
(1998) `European Policies: The Impact of National Administrative Traditions', Journal of Public Policy18: 1-28.
25.
Lampinen, Peter
and Petri Uusikylä (1998) `Implementation Deficit - Why Member States do not Comply with EU Directives?'. Scandinavian Political Studies21(3): 231-251.
26.
Levy, Mark
, Oran Young and Michael Zürn (1995) `The Study of International Regimes', European Journal of International Relations1(3): 267-330.
27.
Long, J. Scott
(1997) Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
28.
Lowry, William
(1992) The Dimensions of Federalism.Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
29.
Mattli, Walter
and Anne-Marie Slaughter (1998) `Revisiting the European Court of Justice', International Organization52(1): 177-209.
30.
Mendrinou, Maria
(1996) `Non-compliance and the European Commission's Role in Integration', Journal of European Public Policy3(1): 1-22.
31.
Mitchell, Ronald B.
(1994) `Regime Design Matters: Intentional Oil Pollution and Treaty Compliance', International Organization48(3): 425-458.
32.
Paraskevopoulos, Christos J.
(1998) `Social Capital, Institutional Learning and European Regional Policy: Evidence from Greece', Regional and Federal Studies8(3): 31-64.
33.
Pridham, Geoffrey
(1994) `National Environmental Policy-making in the European Framework: Spain, Greece, and Italy in Comparison', Regional Politics and Policy4: 80-101.
34.
Sánchez-Cuenca, Ignacio
(2000) `The Political Basis of Support for European Integration', European Union Politics1(2): 147-171.
35.
Siaroff, Alan
(1999) `Corporatism in 24 Industrial Democracies: Meaning and Measurement', European Journal of Political Research36: 175-205.
36.
Tsebelis, George
(2001) `Veto Players Data', URL (accessed 31 January 2001) http://www.polisci.ucla.edu/tsebelis/.
37.
Weale, Albert
, Geoffrey Pridham, Andrea Williams and Martin Porter (1996) `Environmental Administration in Six European States: Secular Convergence or National Distinctiveness?', Public Administration74: 255-274.
