The Politics of Bounded Innovation: 'New' Environmental Policy Instruments in France

Abstract

French environmental policy-making has been characterised by a 'dual policy style' including both statist and meso-corporatist elements. This style translated into a multiplication of environmental institutions and a wide set of policy instruments, with hypothecated environmental charges and voluntary agreements being used as early as the 1960s and 1970s. From the late 1990s, a second phase of experimentation with 'new' instruments was conducted under the left-wing Jospin government. In particular, an innovative 'pollution tax' (the 'TGAP') sought to redefine the meso-corporatist bargain and reconfigure environmental institutions. However, the main reforms were stalemated by the opposition of economic actors and the electoral defeat of the left in 2002. Thus despite auspicious beginnings, the overall impact of 'new' environmental instruments in France has so far been limited in comparison to other OECD countries. Indeed, 'new' instruments have either been contained within long-standing policy paradigms, or excluded and largely ignored.