Acknowledgements

Compiling a Manual of this kind is no small task. The conviction that such a work was both needed and could be brought to fruition came from the then Director of the Institute in London, Nigel Haigh. In the early 1980s, he embarked on the first systematic attempt to chronicle and analyse the mounting volume of Community legislation and its impact in a single Member State. This led to the publication in 1984 of ‘EEC Environmental Policy and Britain’, which combined an essay and a handbook. A second edition published in 1987, soon became out of date and so a regularly updated loose-leaf Manual followed in 1992. Nigel was the editor of the Manual until the end of 2005 and it will always be associated with him. His grasp of the ever expanding spectrum of environmental measures, vigorous eye for detail and ability to extract the pith from often untidy and prolix EU legislation has been the bedrock of this publication.

 

In preparing his initial books on EEC policy, Nigel was assisted by Gertrude Weber and Eric Lummiss. David Wilkinson played a crucial role in transforming this material into a loose-leaf Manual. The central task of updating every six months was then shared among a wide group of staff at the Institute. The gathering of official documentation that is essential for producing the Manual has been the responsibility of the Information Officers at the Institute; first Jonathan Hewett, then Sally Mullard, Chloe Neild, Claire Monkhouse, Catherine Bowyer, Sirini Withana, Emma Watkins, Keti Medarova-Bergstrom and now Victoria Cherrier. Others not listed among the current contributors who have helped significantly, sometimes during an internship in the Institute include: Konrad von Moltke, Cynthia Whitehead, Alastair Baillie, David Gilbert, Jillyan Kelly, Bill Sheate, Tony Long, Alec Arago, Nigel Howarth, Guy Beaufoy, Matthew Gorman, Tim Williams and Caroline Watson. Kate Partridge, who originally came temporarily to type drafts in 1980, provided a mainstay at the Institute for nearly two decades.

 

Many additional people deserve a special mention for their very valuable contribution to this latest version of the Manual: Charles McClaren and Clare Swienton started us off in the summer of 2009 with their research on European Court of Justice court cases. This work was taken up to its painstaking conclusion by Victoria Cherrier and William Beaufoy, who worked for three months and six months respectively during internships at IEEP. Jonathan Armstrong also helped tremendously in the final stages of publication to organize the authors’ contributions and submit the text to the publishers on time. Kaire Kotsalainen played a valuable role working with the web-designers in this new online version of the Manual. The first step towards the relaunch of the Manual was made by Catherine Bowyer who instigated the initial meetings between the publishers and the Institute to make a pipe dream into a reality. She continues to support and mentor the Manual. Special thanks are also due to the staff at Earthscan and ifactory who took up our idea to relaunch the Manual online with enormous dedication and enthusiasm (including Jonathan Sinclair; Emma Watts; Verushka Selbach; Simon Rallison; Andrew Miller; Joe D’angelo; Hilary Schan; and Tara Feld). We would like to also acknowledge Wyn Jones who has reviewed the Biodiversity Chapter.

 

Thanks are also due to Marc Pallemaerts, who was Nigel’s successor as the second editor of the Manual from the beginning of 2006 to the end of 2009. Andrew Farmer, the current editor of the Manual, is now charged with taking it forward into a new era. His wide experience in EU water, air and industrial pollution policy gives him a broad overview of EU environmental policy, so placing him in an excellent position to further improve and develop the Manual as a practical resource accessible to the widest possible number of people and organizations interested in EU environmental policy and its implementation in all Member States.

 

So many people outside the Institute have helped with their time, with documents, information, and by commenting on drafts, that it would be impossible to thank them all by name. The majority, being officials, might prefer not to be identified. Collectively, therefore we extend our thanks to many officials from UK government, particularly the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and its predecessors; from the European Commission in Brussels and its London office; from local authorities and statutory environmental protection agencies. Many representatives from trade associations, individual companies, NGOs, the Confederation of British Industry and the Chemical Industries Association were also helpful in answering questions on early releases.

 

It is difficult for anyone who wants to follow environmental policy in Europe to do so without the Environmental Data Services (ENDS) Europe. Although ENDS is acknowledged as a source in some places, we have absorbed more from its pages than can be reflected in these formal references. Marek Mayer, formally the editor of ENDS, provided insights on many of the topics covered in the Manual both in print and in conversations with Nigel. Professor Richard Macrory frequently provided advice on legal matters as have other lawyers from inside and outside government and the Commission. The opinions expressed on implementation of Directives nevertheless remain those of the Institute.

 

Many ideas in this Manual were first developed in discussion with colleagues at our then sister Institutes in other Member States. Pascale Kromarek, Graham Bennett, Thierry Lavoux, Christina Alvarez, Denise Juin, Andreas Kraemer, and many others have taught us much about the impact of EU policy on other countries.

 

We are grateful to the bodies that first financed this work. The European Cultural Foundation and the Nuffield Foundation gave grants for the 1984 book. The Department of the Environment gave grants for the revisions that resulted in the 1987 book and the Manual in 1991. For a number of years a consultancy agreement with the Department enabled the Institute to keep the material up to date. A contract to provide an EU advisory service to the UK statutory nature and conservation agencies now fulfils a similar function. Much of the material and insights that are to be found in the Manual have been absorbed in the course of studies undertaken under contract to the Commission in Brussels and to others. Information about these studies is to be found on the Institute’s website.