The way in which international legal disputes can be settled has become a topic of much debate. There is talk of a stagnation of public international law; this has been exacerbated by complicated, inefficient mechanisms and has led to the general perception of this type of law as a blunt sword in the fight for justice. The international law of the sea presented in this article exemplifies ways in which public international law can be improved.

Bär, Stefani et al. 1999: Verstärkte Zusammenarbeit in der Europäischen Umweltpolitik nach Amsterdam. Ecologic, Berlin.

Homeyer, Ingmar von; Lena Kempmann and Anneke Klasing 1999: “EU-Osterweiterung: Ergebnisse des Screenings”. DNR EU-Rundschreiben, Vol. 1999, No. 10/11, 12-14.

Kraemer, R. Andreas and Stefani Bär 1999: “Wasserwirtschaft in Nordrhein-Westfalen und Globale Umweltveränderungen. Eine Veranstaltung aus Anlaß des Jubiläums 350 Jahre Westfälischer Frieden in Düsseldorf, 8. und 9. Oktober 1998”. gwf Wasser/Abwasser, Vol. 140, No. 6, 1-6.

The German Packaging Ordinance of 1991 marked one of the first attempts to introduce the concept of producer responsibility into environmental policy. In this article, Tilman Eichstädt, Alexander Carius, and R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute use policy network analysis to assess policy outcomes as well as the environmental and economic efficiency of the German packaging policy.

Carius, Alexander und Kerstin Imbusch 1999: "Environment and security in international politics - an introduction", in: Alexander Carius und Kurt M. Lietzmann (Hg.): Environmental Change and Security. A European Perspective]. Berlin: Springer, 7-30.

German water policy-making, analysed in this article by Wolfgang Rüdig and R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute, defies easy categorisation. Policy processes are highly complex, fragmented, and diverse. In the areas of drinking water supply and water pollution, the most important feature is the enormous importance of regional and local government in both policy formulation and implementation.