15. Chemical Regulations in Central and Eastern Europe: The Pull of Transnational Markets and Associations

This chapter considers the role of market integration and trans-European associations and coalitions, as potential explanatory factors that can account for the faster and more successful than anticipated horizontal diffusion of chemical standards. Market incentives are identified in mandatory and voluntary chemical safety standards not only in Europe but across the globe. However, the present analysis reveals that while market incentives can help explain the adjustment of interests of influential domestic actors in favour of harmonisation, they can hardly account for the overwhelming political support for the early adoption of EU chemical regulations despite the negative trade balance in chemicals in the region, competitiveness pressures faced by the majority of Central and East European chemical enterprises, and the high administrative cost of implementation. The chapter advances the argument that associations of the European chemical industry operating at the supranational and domestic levels have played a critical role for regulatory harmonisation in the new member states and their subsequent implementation. These industry associations spurred trans-European policy coalitions as a political force that pushed the harmonisation of chemical standards, thus serving as a transnational belt for integrating the new member states in the multi-level governance structure that characterises EU politics and regulations.