The effectiveness of the Rhine Action Program: Methodology and results of an evaluation of the impacts of international cooperation

International Environmental Affairs

Volumn 10, Issue 4, 1998, Pages 241-266

  Gurtner Zimmermann, Arnold ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION; POLLUTION CONTROL; RIVER POLLUTION;

EUROPE;

EID: 0032311398     PISSN: 10414665     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (68)

1. Internationale Kommission zum Schutze des Rheins, The Rhine: An Ecological Revival (Koblenz: IKSR, 1994).
2. William M. Stigliani, Peter R. Jaffé, and Stefan Anderberg, "Heavy Metal Pollution in the Rhine Basin," Environmental Science and Technology 27, no. 5 (May 1993): 786-93; and Thomas Bernauer and Peter Moser, Reducing Pollution of the Rhine River: The Influence of International Cooperation (Laxenburg: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, IIASA-Working Paper 96-7, 1996).
3. William M. Stigliani, Peter R. Jaffé, and Stefan Anderberg, "Heavy Metal Pollution in the Rhine Basin," Environmental Science and Technology 27, no. 5 (May 1993): 786-93; and Thomas Bernauer and Peter Moser, Reducing Pollution of the Rhine River: The Influence of International Cooperation (Laxenburg: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, IIASA-Working Paper 96-7, 1996).
4. For a detailed description of the development in the individual stages see Carel Dieperink, "Between Salt and Salmon: Network Management in the Rhine Catchment Area," in Managing Environmental Disputes: Network Management as an Alternative, ed. Pieter Glasbergen (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1995), pp. 119-36; and Rainer Durth, "Der Rhein: Ein langer Weg zum grenzüberschreitenden Umweltschutz" [The Rhine: A Long Road To Transboundary Environmental Protection], Politik und Zeitgeschichte B7 (1996): 38-47.
5. For a detailed description of the development in the individual stages see Carel Dieperink, "Between Salt and Salmon: Network Management in the Rhine Catchment Area," in Managing Environmental Disputes: Network Management as an Alternative, ed. Pieter Glasbergen (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1995), pp. 119-36; and Rainer Durth, "Der Rhein: Ein langer Weg zum grenzüberschreitenden Umweltschutz" [The Rhine: A Long Road To Transboundary Environmental Protection], Politik und Zeitgeschichte B7 (1996): 38-47.
6. After the accident at Sandoz, the RAP was the Rhine ministers' reaction to increased political pressure domestically to acting on behalf of the Rhine and its users. This way, the program qualifies as the latest example of a collective response by the countries in the Rhine area below Schweizerhalle to a problematic situation in the form of institutionalized cooperation. For a detailed description of the factors that have influenced RAP development, see Arnold Gurtner-Zimmermann, "Erfolgreiche grenzüberschreitende Zusammenarbeit im Rheinschutz: Wie die Kooperationshindernisse überwunden wurden" [Successful Transboundary Cooperation for Protection of The Rhine: How Obstacles to Cooperation Were Overcome] Berichte zur deutschen Landeskunde. Forthcoming.
7. In the 1963 Convention signed at Bern, the ICPR, originally established in 1950, was given an international legal basis, and specific tasks were assigned to this international body. See, for example, Alexandre Kiss, "The Protection of the Rhine against Pollution," Natural Resources Journal 25, no. 3 (July 1985): 613-37.
8. See Kiss, "The Protection of the Rhine against Pollution"; and Internationale Kommission zum Schutze des Rheins, The Rhine: An Ecological Revival, p. 48.
9. David LeMarquand, International Rivers: The Politics of Cooperation (Vancouver: Westwater Research Centre, 1977).
10. Durth, "Der Rhein," p. 44f; and Bernauer and Moser, Reducing Pollution of the Rhine River, p. 17.
11. Durth, "Der Rhein," p. 44f; and Bernauer and Moser, Reducing Pollution of the Rhine River, p. 17.
12. Internationale Kommission zum Schutze des Rheins, The Rhine: An Ecological Revival, p. 50.
13. LeMarquand, International Rivers.
14. Thomas Bernauer, "Protecting the River Rhine against Chloride Pollution," in Institutions for Environmental Aid: Pitfalls and Promise, ed. Robert O. Keohane and Marc A. Levy (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1996).
15. As Haas has shown in his study on Mediterranean pollution control, this property belongs to a regime that acts as a vehicle for learning to produce convergent state policies. Peter M. Haas, Saving the Mediterranean: The Politics of International Environmental Cooperation (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990).
16. Internationale Kommission zum Schutze des Rheins, Aktionsprogramm "Rhein" (Strassburg: IKSR, 1987).
17. See Heinz-Jürgen Brauch and Walter Jülich, "Die Europäische Union und die Wassergesetzgebung" [The European Union and Legislation Regarding Water] in Rheinbericht 1994-1995, ed. IAWR (Amsterdam: IAWR, 1996), pp. 61-113; and Bernauer and Moser, Reducing Pollution of the Rhine River.
18. See Heinz-Jürgen Brauch and Walter Jülich, "Die Europäische Union und die Wassergesetzgebung" [The European Union and Legislation Regarding Water] in Rheinbericht 1994-1995, ed. IAWR (Amsterdam: IAWR, 1996), pp. 61-113; and Bernauer and Moser, Reducing Pollution of the Rhine River.
19. Bernauer and Moser, Reducing Pollution of the Rhine River, pp. 10, 12.
20. Useful overviews are provided by Oran R. Young, International Governance: Protecting the Environment in a Stateless Society (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994), pp. 140-60; John Vogler, The Global Commons: A Regime Analysis (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 1995), pp. 152-82; and Thomas Gehring and Sebastian Oberthür, "Internationale Regime als Steuerungsinstrumente der Umweltpolitik" [International Regimes as Guiding Instruments for Environmental Policy], in Internationale Umweltregime: Umweltschutz durch Verhandlungen und Verträge [International Environmental Regimes: Environmental Protection through Negotiations and Treaties], ed. Thomas Gehring and Sebastian Oberthür (Opladen: Leske and Budrich, 1997), pp. 9-25.
21. Useful overviews are provided by Oran R. Young, International Governance: Protecting the Environment in a Stateless Society (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994), pp. 140-60; John Vogler, The Global Commons: A Regime Analysis (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 1995), pp. 152-82; and Thomas Gehring and Sebastian Oberthür, "Internationale Regime als Steuerungsinstrumente der Umweltpolitik" [International Regimes as Guiding Instruments for Environmental Policy], in Internationale Umweltregime: Umweltschutz durch Verhandlungen und Verträge [International Environmental Regimes: Environmental Protection through Negotiations and Treaties], ed. Thomas Gehring and Sebastian Oberthür (Opladen: Leske and Budrich, 1997), pp. 9-25.
22. Useful overviews are provided by Oran R. Young, International Governance: Protecting the Environment in a Stateless Society (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994), pp. 140-60; John Vogler, The Global Commons: A Regime Analysis (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 1995), pp. 152-82; and Thomas Gehring and Sebastian Oberthür, "Internationale Regime als Steuerungsinstrumente der Umweltpolitik" [International Regimes as Guiding Instruments for Environmental Policy], in Internationale Umweltregime: Umweltschutz durch Verhandlungen und Verträge [International Environmental Regimes: Environmental Protection through Negotiations and Treaties], ed. Thomas Gehring and Sebastian Oberthür (Opladen: Leske and Budrich, 1997), pp. 9-25.
23. See, for example, Alexandre Kiss, "The Protection of the Rhine against Pollution"; and Jan M. van Dunné, ed., Transboundary Pollution and Liability (Rotterdam: Institute of Environmental Damages, Erasmus University, 1990).
24. Vogler, The Global Commons, and Thomas Bernauer, "Managing International Rivers," paper presented at the 1995 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, 31 August-3 September 1995.
25. Vogler, The Global Commons, and Thomas Bernauer, "Managing International Rivers," paper presented at the 1995 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, 31 August-3 September 1995.
26. Robert O. Keohane, Peter M. Haas, and Marc A. Levy, "The Effectiveness of International Institutions," in Institutions for the Earth: Sources of Effective Environmental Protection, ed. Peter M. Haas, Robert O. Keohane, and Marc A. Levy (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1993), pp. 3-24.
27. Volker Rittberger, ed., International Regimes in East-West Politics (London/New York: Pinter Publishers, 1990).
28. Stephan Kux, "Internationaler Rahmen und innerstaatliche Abstützung der schweizerischen Umweltaussenpolitik" [International Framework and Domestic Support for Swiss Foreign Environmental Policy], in Schweizerische Umweltpolitik im internationalen Kontext [Swiss Environmental Policy in The International Context], ed. Maren Jochimsen and Gebhard Kirchgässner (Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag, 1995), pp. 139-71.
29. Gehring and Oberthür, "Internationale Regime als Steuerungsinstrumente der Umweltpolitik," p. 18. Rhine River water pollution management provides an excellent example for anticipatory behavior by polluters. In the 1980s, industrial users on the Rhine switched to improved technologies in anticipation of more stringent standards considered nationally and internationally at that time. See Bernauer and Moser, Reducing Pollution of the Rhine River, p. 16.
30. Gehring and Oberthür, "Internationale Regime als Steuerungsinstrumente der Umweltpolitik," p. 18. Rhine River water pollution management provides an excellent example for anticipatory behavior by polluters. In the 1980s, industrial users on the Rhine switched to improved technologies in anticipation of more stringent standards considered nationally and internationally at that time. See Bernauer and Moser, Reducing Pollution of the Rhine River, p. 16.
31. Haas, Keohane, and Levy, eds., Institutions for the Earth.
32. Oran R. Young, "The Effectiveness of International Institutions: Hard Cases and Critical Variables," in Governance without Government: Order and Change in World Politics, ed. James N. Rosenau and Ernst-Otto Czempiel (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), pp. 160-94.
33. Harald Müller, "The Internalization of Principles, Norms, and Rules by Governments: The Case of Security Regimes," in Regime Theory and International Relations, ed. Volker Rittberger (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993), pp. 361-88.
34. Steinar Andresen and Jørgen Wettestad, "International Problem-Solving Effectiveness: The Oslo Project So Far," International Environmental Affairs 7, no. 2 (1995): 127-49.
35. For an overview of experiences with public participation in environmental planning, see Arnold Gurtner-Zimmermann, "Ecosystem Approach to Planning in the Great Lakes: A Mid-Term Review of Remedial Action Plans" (Ph.D. thesis, University of Toronto, 1994).
36. Andresen and Wettestad, "International Problem-Solving Effectiveness."
37. Owen Green, "Environmental Regimes: Effectiveness and Implementation Review," in The Environment and International Relations, ed. John Vogler and Mark F. Imber (London and New York: Routledge, 1996), pp. 196-214.
38. Oran R. Young, International Governance: Protecting the Environment in a Stateless Society (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994).
39. Michael Zürn, Interessen und Institutionen in der internationalen Politik: Grundlegung und Anwendung des situationsstrukturellen Ansatzes [Interests and Institutions in International Policy: Foundations for a Situational Structural Approach and its Application] (Opladen: Leske und Budrich, 1992), p. 313.
40. This point is illustrated by Rittberger, International Regimes in East-West Politics, in his Editor's Introduction, pp. 1-8; and Thomas J. Biersteker, "Constructing Historical Counterfactuals to Assess the Consquences of International Regimes: The Global Debt Regime and the Course of the Debt Crisis of the 1980s," in Regime Theory and International Relations, ed. Rittberger, pp. 315-38. For a discussion of this issue in impact evaluation, see Peter H. Rossi and Howard E. Freeman, Evaluation: A Systematic Approach (Newbury Park: SAGE Publications, 1989).
41. This point is illustrated by Rittberger, International Regimes in East-West Politics, in his Editor's Introduction, pp. 1-8; and Thomas J. Biersteker, "Constructing Historical Counterfactuals to Assess the Consquences of International Regimes: The Global Debt Regime and the Course of the Debt Crisis of the 1980s," in Regime Theory and International Relations, ed. Rittberger, pp. 315-38. For a discussion of this issue in impact evaluation, see Peter H. Rossi and Howard E. Freeman, Evaluation: A Systematic Approach (Newbury Park: SAGE Publications, 1989).
42. This point is illustrated by Rittberger, International Regimes in East-West Politics, in his Editor's Introduction, pp. 1-8; and Thomas J. Biersteker, "Constructing Historical Counterfactuals to Assess the Consquences of International Regimes: The Global Debt Regime and the Course of the Debt Crisis of the 1980s," in Regime Theory and International Relations, ed. Rittberger, pp. 315-38. For a discussion of this issue in impact evaluation, see Peter H. Rossi and Howard E. Freeman, Evaluation: A Systematic Approach (Newbury Park: SAGE Publications, 1989).
43. For an in-depth discussion of the different evaluation strategies and methods, see Werner Bussmann, Evaluationen staatlicher Massnahmen erfolgreich begleiten und nutzen: Ein Leitfaden [Successful Support and Use of Assessments of Public Measures: A Guide] (Chur/Zürich: Verlag Rüegger AG, 1995); Werner Bussmann, Ulrich Klöti, and Peter Knoepfel, Einführung in die Politikevaluation [Introduction to Policy Assessment] (Basel/Frankfurt a.M.: Helbing and Lichtenhahn, 1997), pp. 173-55; and Rossi and Freeman, Evaluation, pp. 225-374. Bernauer and Moser provide a discussion on the use of quantitative methods in the evaluation of an international regime's effects in Reducing Pollution of the Rhine River, p. 9f.
44. For an in-depth discussion of the different evaluation strategies and methods, see Werner Bussmann, Evaluationen staatlicher Massnahmen erfolgreich begleiten und nutzen: Ein Leitfaden [Successful Support and Use of Assessments of Public Measures: A Guide] (Chur/Zürich: Verlag Rüegger AG, 1995); Werner Bussmann, Ulrich Klöti, and Peter Knoepfel, Einführung in die Politikevaluation [Introduction to Policy Assessment] (Basel/Frankfurt a.M.: Helbing and Lichtenhahn, 1997), pp. 173-55; and Rossi and Freeman, Evaluation, pp. 225-374. Bernauer and Moser provide a discussion on the use of quantitative methods in the evaluation of an international regime's effects in Reducing Pollution of the Rhine River, p. 9f.
45. For an in-depth discussion of the different evaluation strategies and methods, see Werner Bussmann, Evaluationen staatlicher Massnahmen erfolgreich begleiten und nutzen: Ein Leitfaden [Successful Support and Use of Assessments of Public Measures: A Guide] (Chur/Zürich: Verlag Rüegger AG, 1995); Werner Bussmann, Ulrich Klöti, and Peter Knoepfel, Einführung in die Politikevaluation [Introduction to Policy Assessment] (Basel/Frankfurt a.M.: Helbing and Lichtenhahn, 1997), pp. 173-55; and Rossi and Freeman, Evaluation, pp. 225-374. Bernauer and Moser provide a discussion on the use of quantitative methods in the evaluation of an international regime's effects in Reducing Pollution of the Rhine River, p. 9f.
46. For an in-depth discussion of the different evaluation strategies and methods, see Werner Bussmann, Evaluationen staatlicher Massnahmen erfolgreich begleiten und nutzen: Ein Leitfaden [Successful Support and Use of Assessments of Public Measures: A Guide] (Chur/Zürich: Verlag Rüegger AG, 1995); Werner Bussmann, Ulrich Klöti, and Peter Knoepfel, Einführung in die Politikevaluation [Introduction to Policy Assessment] (Basel/Frankfurt a.M.: Helbing and Lichtenhahn, 1997), pp. 173-55; and Rossi and Freeman, Evaluation, pp. 225-374. Bernauer and Moser provide a discussion on the use of quantitative methods in the evaluation of an international regime's effects in Reducing Pollution of the Rhine River, p. 9f.
47. The ICPR publishes a summary of the data collected by the national environmental agencies in their annual progress reports. See, for example, Internationale Kommission zum Schutze des Rheins [International Commission for Protection of the Rhine], Tätigkeitsbericht 1995 [Annual Report 1995] (Koblenz: IKSR, undated).
48. For a comprehensive discussion of exogenous factors that obscure the effects of a program, especially in an evaluation of social programs, see Rossi and Freeman, Evaluation, pp. 233ff.
49. An environmentally sensitive public also belongs to the factors that may influence polluters' behavior. For industrial production, public concern about the environment may provide an additional incentive to switch to more environmentally friendly production techniques. For a more detailed discussion of the interplay of these factors in the Swiss chemical industry, see Uwe Schneidewind, "Ökologischer Strukturwandel in der Schweizer Chemiebranche" [Ecological Structural Change in the Swiss Chemical Industry], in Ökologischer Wandel in Schweizer Branchen [Ecological Change in Swiss Branches of Industry], ed. Thomas Dyllick et al. (Bern/Stuttgart/Wien: Haupt, 1994), pp. 31-74.
50. For a discussion of the "sharpness" of the program, see the discussion in the following section on the problem-solving capacity of the RAP.
51. The difference in participation rates raises a few questions. First, it is likely that the research project's University of Basel affiliation increased the Swiss experts' willingness to participate in the survey. Second, language seems to have been a factor. Using the information provided by ICPR staff members on the Rhine experts' language abilities and considering the study's time and money limitations, I decided to send all participants a questionnaire written in German. However, they were encouraged to answer the questions in English (Dutch participants) or French (members of the Rhine River policy community in France and Luxembourg), if they wished to do so. Given the response rates, language did not pose a problem for the Dutch participants. In contrast, the questionnaire in German was a barrier for at least a few French Rhine river specialists. Three experts who expressly asked for a questionnaire in French were subsequently interviewed on the phone in French. Finally, the cultural connection to the river may also explain part of the difference in response rate. For example, the Rhine River has always been central for the Netherlands and their socio-economic well-being, while it was quite peripheral to most parts of France. For a more in-depth discussion of the influence of cultural factors on the cooperation, see Christophe Dupont, "Switzerland, France, Germany, the Netherlands: The Rhine," in Culture and Negotiation: The Resolution of Water Disputes, ed. Guy O. Faure and Jeffrey Z. Rubin (Newbury Park: SAGE Publications, 1993), pp. 97-115; and Arnold Gurtner-Zimmermann, "Erfolgreiche grenzüberschreitende Zusammenarbeit im Rheinschutz."
52. The difference in participation rates raises a few questions. First, it is likely that the research project's University of Basel affiliation increased the Swiss experts' willingness to participate in the survey. Second, language seems to have been a factor. Using the information provided by ICPR staff members on the Rhine experts' language abilities and considering the study's time and money limitations, I decided to send all participants a questionnaire written in German. However, they were encouraged to answer the questions in English (Dutch participants) or French (members of the Rhine River policy community in France and Luxembourg), if they wished to do so. Given the response rates, language did not pose a problem for the Dutch participants. In contrast, the questionnaire in German was a barrier for at least a few French Rhine river specialists. Three experts who expressly asked for a questionnaire in French were subsequently interviewed on the phone in French. Finally, the cultural connection to the river may also explain part of the difference in response rate. For example, the Rhine River has always been central for the Netherlands and their socio-economic well-being, while it was quite peripheral to most parts of France. For a more in-depth discussion of the influence of cultural factors on the cooperation, see Christophe Dupont, "Switzerland, France, Germany, the Netherlands: The Rhine," in Culture and Negotiation: The Resolution of Water Disputes, ed. Guy O. Faure and Jeffrey Z. Rubin (Newbury Park: SAGE Publications, 1993), pp. 97-115; and Arnold Gurtner-Zimmermann, "Erfolgreiche grenzüberschreitende Zusammenarbeit im Rheinschutz."
53. For an overview of the different systems of government in the Rhine-bordering countries, see Internationale Kommission für die Hydrologie des Rheingebietes, Der Rhein unter der Einwirkung des Menschen: Ausbau, Schiffahrt, Wasserwirtschaft [The Rhine and Human Impacts: Construction, Shipping, Water Management] (Lelystad: KHR, 1993).
54. The surveillance and alarm system was not addressed in the survey. The improved provision for accidents is considered one of the biggest achievements of the RAP. See Ragnar Kinzelbach, "Tiere im Rhein: Perspektiven zu ihrer Erhaltung und Entwicklung" [Fauna in the Rhine: Perspectives for their Conservation and Development], in Die Biozönose des Rheins im Wandel: Lachs 2000? [The Changing Rhine Ecosystem: Salmon 2000?], ed. Ministrium für Umwelt Rheinland-Pfalz (Petersberg: Advanced Biology, 1993), pp. 3-9.
55. Bernauer, "Managing International Rivers," provides a comprehensive discussion of arrangements established to manage international rivers.
56. Internationale Kommission zum Schutze des Rheins, The Rhine: An Ecological Revival, p. 12f.
57. Internationale Kommission zum Schutze des Rheins, Ökologisches Gesamtkonzept für den Rhein: "Lachs 2000" [Ecological Master Plan for the Rhine: "Salmon 2000"] (Koblenz: IKSR, 1991).
58. Although new fish passages are planned, the dams at the Iffezheim and Gambsheim hydro power plants on the Upper Rhine will continue to be unpassable obstacles for the salmon migration past the year 2000. That is, the ecological goal of the RAP will, at best, only be achieved in the lower parts of the Rhine and its tributaries.
59. Internationale Kommission zum Schutze des Rheins, Lachs 2000: Stand der Projekte Anfang 1996 (Koblenz: IKSR, 1996), provides a comprehensive overview of the projects under way on the Rhine and its tributaries.
60. In the Swiss part of the sample, only two individuals are associated with a university or a research institution. Due to the small number, the two academics were left out in the chi-square analysis, that is, the difference refers only to administrative personnel, private sector representatives, and ENGO-members.
61. In the questionnaire, progress in implementation was specified as the extent of program development to carry out RAP recommendations, the use of financial and labor resources for the development of these activities, and the pace in program realization.
62. This is likely due to past and present activities by the waterworks. Since 1970, when the International Association of Waterworks in the Rhine Basin (IAWR) was founded, the members of this network have been quite influential, and successful, in pressing for better Rhine River water quality. See, for example, Durth, "Der Rhein," p. 42ff. The activites of the IAWR also show that non-state actors have had a noteworthy impact on international cooperation in Rhine river water pollution management.
63. Internationale Kommission zum Schutze des Rheins, Tätigkeitsbericht 1994 [Annual Report 1994] (Koblenz: IKSR, undated).
64. Anonymous, "Der Rhein: Ein Europäischer Fluss: Beispiel und Herausforderungen für den Gewässerschutz" [The Rhine: A European River: Example and Challenges for Water Management] Umwelt 9 (1988): 375-88.
65. Michael Benker, "Anschluss an Kläranlagen: Die Schweiz belegt einen Spitzenplatz" [Connection to Wastewater Treatment Facilities: Switzerland in the Lead] BUWAL-Bulletin 2 (1996): 29.
66. Internationale Kommission zum Schutze des Rheins, Aktionsprogramm Rhein: Bestandesaufnahmen der punktuellen Einleitungen prioritärer Stoffe 1992 [Rhine Action Program: Status of Point Source Emissions of Priority Substances] (Koblenz: IKSR, 1994).
67. Internationale Kommission zum Schutze des Rheins, The Rhine: An Ecological Revival.
68. Bernauer and Moser, Reducing Pollution of the Rhine River, p. 10, argue that the ICPR recommendations on the state-of-the-art technology are "consensual statements of intention of all the parties concerned, including the dischargers themselves." The paper and cellulose industry was one of the first branches to be targeted by the ICPR. This suggests that the international negotiations had an influence, however big, on this industry's behavior.