ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION IN TRANSFORMING ECONOMIES: THE CASE OF POLAND
Environmental Regulation in Transforming Economies: The Case of Poland
Edited by
Piotr Jasinski and Helen Lawton Smith
First published 1999 by Ashgate Publishing
Reissued 2018 by Routledge
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A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 98074515
ISBN 13: 978-1-138-31338-5 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-429-44977-2 (ebk)
Contents
Piotr Jasinski
Miroslaw Sobolewski and Ewa Taylor
Jerzy Jendroska and Jan Jerzmanski
Brian Slocock
Maria J. Welfens
Piotr Jasinski
Elisabeth Favrat
Iza Kruszewska
Seabron Adamson, Robin Bates, Robert Laslett, and Alberto Pototschnig
Leslaw Adamczyk and Tim Keyworth
Helen Lawton Smith and Miroslaw Sobolewski
Petra Opitz and Wolfgang Pfaffenberger
J.W.S. Longhurst, D.C. Gibbs and D.M. Elsom
Guide
Piotr Jasinski Tutor in Economics, Campion Hall, Oxford University and Director of Oxford Economic Consulting Ltd
Miroslaw Sobolewski Research Institute of the Polish Parliament
Ewa Taylor Warsaw School of Economics
Jerzy Jendroska Associate Professor of Environmental Law, Polish Academy of Science
Jan Jerzmanski Polish Academy of Science
Brian Slocock Department of Applied Social Studies, Paisley University
Maria J. Welfens Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Germany
Elisabeth Favrat Coopers and Lybrand, 1 Embankment Place, London
Iza Kruszewska Formerly Greenpeace International, now an independent consultant
Seabron Adamson London Economics Ltd
Robin Bates Principal Economist, Power Development, Efficiency and Household Fuels Dir., World Bank Group, Washington DC
Robert Laslett London Economics Ltd
Alberto Pototschnig London Economics Ltd
Leslaw Adamczyk Atmoterm Environmental Protection
Tim Keyworth Research Assistant, Regulatory Policy Research Centre, Hertford College, Oxford University
Helen Lawton Smith Research Fellow in the Centre for Local Economic Development (CLED), Coventry University; Director of Science Policy Studies of the Regulatory Policy Research Centre (RPRC) at Hertford College, Oxford University
Petra Opitz Researcher, Deutsches Institut fuer Wirtschaftsforschung, Berlin
Wolfgang Pfaffenberger Institut for Volkswirtschaftslehre, Carl von Ossietzky Universitat, Germany
James Longhurst Professor, Head of Environmental Health and Science, University of the West of England
David Gibbs Professor, Department of Geography, University of Hull
Derek Elsom Professor, Air Quality Management Research Group, Oxford Brookes University
Piotr Jasinski
The natural environment and systemic transformation
Some of the most polluted areas in Europe, if not in the world, are in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and this pitiful state of affairs is no accident. Both the form and content of any environmental policy is dependent on the economic and political systems, and Soviet-type economies (STEs) were no exception. The main problem of these countries was that once environmental problems had been recognised neither their political nor economic system was responsive or flexible enough to deal with them. Since both systems are being changed in the process of systemic transformation, the link between various constitutive elements of this process and the natural environment is certainly worth investigating. This issue together with the challenge that systemic transformation constitutes for natural environment and environmental policy will stand at the centre of our interest in this introduction. We shall end it with a few remarks about the project and the conference from which this book originated.
Systemic causes of the present state of affairs
Bras and Kowalik (1983)same or even more, but in a different, exploitation-free way. However, once priority had been given to industry over agriculture and services, and in particular to heavy industry, the whole politico-economic structure of the STEs made any serious change of the direction of their development almost impossible. In particular, the notorious heavy industry lobbies, once created, were not easy to control, especially when the degree of terror diminished after Stalin's death.
If this interpretation is correct, then from the point of view of the environment a repetition of Western problems, following from the initial disregard for the natural environment in the process of industrialisation, was more than likely. And this is precisely what happened, with various grandiose projects only making things worse. On the other hand, such a repetition could be interpreted as a factor diminishing central planners' responsibility, had not the whole Soviet system been built on the claim that communism would overcome the inherent weaknesses and contradictions of capitalism. Although the link between (capitalist) industrialisation and environmental damage was eventually spotted and to some extent dealt with under democratic capitalism, those in charge of STEs failed to take notice. In this context the potential advantage of backwardness appears to have been wasted - or simply been impossible to exploit - by the inability to learn from other countries' mistakes.
An additional factor, definitely making environmentally friendly development an even more elusive target, was the fact that it was the state that was trying to control itself by designing and enforcing environmental regulation with respect to the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) it owned. It was, therefore, the state that was ultimately responsible for actively damaging the environment, and not only for its regulatory negligence. At the same time it was usually the legislative and executive branches of government that were ultimately responsible for trying to limit the damage. And although some progress was made as far as the creation and content of environmental laws were concerned, their enforcement left more than much to be desired. Could it be at all expected that the state would force itself, with almost no pressure from outside its own ranks, to become more environmentally friendly, if production was so important?
Talking about structural causes of the damage to the natural environment in STEs one also has to take into account the very logic of central planning, which reflected the fact that STEs were resource constrained and, which is simply the reverse side of the same coin, plagued by shortages. Despite this, inefficiency caused by informational The negative environmental consequences of economic inefficiency, both allocative and productive, unavoidable in practice as they were, were strengthened by the desire to increase production at any cost. This meant unsustainable environmental costs, especially when in the process of applying environmental standards corners were cut all too often (Winiecki, 1988, Welfens, 1993).
