Accords volontaires et dynamique de changement structurel. Éclairage de la relation à partir de la politique française de gestion des VHU

Abstract

Voluntary agreements are at the centre of increasing attention in the area of environmental policy. Today, this form of negociated approach is favoured at the level of the European Union. The article tackles the issue of the ability of such instrument to foster the involvement of actors in a logic of change encompassing technical, organisational and attitudinal aspects, which is referred to as structural change. We hypothetically consider that some elements of the answer are to be found, on the one hand, in the nature of the national institutional context, on the other, in the degree of convergence between the instrument used and the effect sought, and in the way it is translated in the institutional arrangements coming along with the implementation of the policy. Applying this framework of analysis to the French voluntary agreement concerning end-of-life vehicles, some insights are provided on the limits of this instrument when it comes to stimulating such a dynamics of change.