Both the USA and Germany are currently engaged in a battle over the respective rights of the federal government vs. the states in determining environmental standards and regulations. In the United States, California and a number of other states are endeavoring to introduce emissions regulations, either singly or in regional partnerships. In Germany, reform of federalism could lead to exceptions from country-wide environmental regulations. In both instances, this tug of war could lead to disparate environmental regulations and standards from region to region, an outcome that could pose significant challenges for industry. An AICGS Policy Report focuses on the federalism debate as it relates to environmental regulation in Germany and the United States and its implications for business. This contribution of R. Andreas Kraemer focuses on federalism and environmental regulation in Germany and the EU.

The European Community has undertaken an ambitious program aimed at improving the sustainability of energy use across Europe. At the heart of this program are efforts by the European Union and its Member States to encourage the use of renewable sources of energy. Bioenergy has become a focal point in efforts to increase the use of renewable energy. This policy brief summarises the development and status quo of the EU bioenergy policy framework and links it to the current debate on sustainability of bioenergy.

Economic analysis for policy appraisal is generally interested in answering two questions, "is a given policy objective worth achieving" and if so, "has the policy objective been achieved in the most cost-effective way?" While the first question is addressed in a cost-benefit analysis (CBA), the second question can be answered with the help of a cost-effective analysis (CEA). The authors of this book chapter focus on ex-post CEA and reveal problems, challenges and opportunities of CEA at the European level.

This Ecologic Brief gives an overview of the main results and policy implications of the HarmoniCOP project. HarmoniCOP provides a comprehensive knowledge base for public participation in water management.

Dr. Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf focuses in his contributing article on the influence of European environmental interest groups on European environmental Policy.

In the ZUR – Zeitschrift für Umweltrecht, Peter Beyer analyses the new European Directive on environmental liability. The liability for damages caused to the environment by emissions as well as accidents in the field of industrial productions and transportation of dangerous goods belongs to the issues which have been controversially discussed in politics for years, regularly brought up by spectacular accidents as in Baia Mare or the sinking of the Prestige off the Spanish coast.

The transition to a sustainable development is a strategic aim of the EU. To this end, the European Council adopted during the meeting in Gothenburg 2001 a European Sustainable Development Strategy. The midterm review of the strategy is scheduled for next year (2005). How has the European Sustainable Development Strategy performed so far? In this article, Ecologic analyses both the relation between the Sustainable Development Strategy and the Lisbon process as well as the weaknesses of the strategy, and suggests a way forward.

The precautionary principle is one of the guiding principles of European environmental policy. Looking at Germany's scandal of AIDS contaminated blood bottles, the author examines the failure of the German Federal Health Agency in the fight against AIDS. He identifies potential conflicts looming in the implementation of the precautionary principle and requirements for a suitable institutional framework.

After extensive discussions and despite reasonable fears of failure, in June 2004 EU leaders finally adopted the Constitutional Treaty, which will replace the Nice Treaty. After signing the Constitutional Treaty in autumn 2004, Member States will have two years to ratify it. This article presents an environmental analysis of the draft Treaty as submitted by the Convention on the Future of Europe in July 2003.

This brochure introduces the Aarhus Convention and shows which rights to information, to participation and to file suit citizens are entitled to in the area of the environment, and how they can exercise these rights.

Simon Marr, in collaboration with Arne Schwemer, contributed a chapter on the Precautionary Principle in German Environmental Law to the Yearbook of European Environmental Law, which, in its third volume, focuses on the implementation of legal principles in EC environmental law.

The Laeken Declaration, which constitutes the mandate for the European Convention, calls for institutional reforms to improve the EU’s efficiency, democratic accountability and transparency. Although the Convention adopted the draft Constitutional Treaty in June/July 2003, its environmental implications remain highly uncertain. Ecologic published a Brief that analyses the draft Constitutional Treaty. Furthermore, it considers the potential environmental merits and shortcomings of the broader reform options which have provided the backdrop for the Convention’s discussions: What are the basic options for improving the EU’s efficiency, democratic accountability and transparency? How do they fare from the point of view of the environment?

The Laeken Declaration, convening the Convention on the Future of Europe, submitted a broad mandate to it, requesting it to reorganise the distribution of tasks between the EU and the Member States. However, the Convention did not consider reallocation of competencies, but rather concentrated on the task of ensuring transparency for the delimitation of competencies. Ecologic published a Brief that presents the system underlying the constitutional division of competencies, points out consequences of the system, and assesses them from an environmental point of view.

This Ecologic Brief is a part of the project EcoFuturum "Europe's Democratic Challenge: Actively Shaping European Environmental Policy". It is part of a series of contributions to the European consitutional debates, and Ecologic thus continues its tradition of work on "Greening the Treaties".

The interdisciplinary team of lawyers and economists, headed by Prof. Dr. Dr. Juliane Kokott and consisting of Dr. Axel Klaphake, Dr. Simon Marr, Dr. Peter Beyer and Ute Beckert, recently finalized its study on international, European and national liability systems in relation to ecological damages, i.e. damages to water, soil and biodiversity. The study was commissioned by the German Federal Environmental Agency.