The Baltic Sea and EU environmental policy - an implementation study

Sammanfattning: The Baltic Sea is a common in an international system. As the prisoners dilemma and the tragedy of the commons show, there are special problems connected to the protection of commons. The Baltic Sea suffers from eutrophication, and a cooperation between the states bordering to it is necessary to stop it. Can the EU overcome the problems of the commons, and coordinate the environmental protection of the Baltic Sea? I have looked at both the EU system and the legislation that concerns eutrophication, to evaluate how well these are suited for achieving the goal of protecting the environment of the Baltic Sea. I have used implementation and steering theories to analyse the EU directives. This analysis shows that the main problems are that the directives partially are formulated in such a vague way, that it makes it possible for the member states to interpret them to freely. The other main problem concerning the EU system is that the it has problems controlling the member states implementation of the directives. Despite these problems, most states seem to follow the directives. The EU system should be able to save the common ? if he member states want this.