Domestic drivers and barriers in environmental policy. The implementation of the Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe in Poland

This thesis aims to investigate the implementation of the Directive 2008/50/EC on Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner Air for Europe in Poland, identifying the reasons why Poland has encountered non-compliance problems and also identifying relevant internal barriers and drivers for policy change. The case-study analysis reconstructs how the Directive 2008/50/EC has been implemented to date and the consequences for Poland's positions on new EU environmental policies. Poland has wrongly transposed three articles of the Directive 2008/50/EC into its national law, as it stated the opinion expressed by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) after the European Commission launched an infringement procedure for violations of the obligations contained in the Directive 2008/50/EC. The methodology adopted includes a mix of qualitative analysis, literature review, case-law approach, and historical analysis. The theoretical approach of Europeanization aims to consider the main aspects of multi-level governance and public policy studies. The historical reconstruction of the Polish background allowed tracing the inherent characteristics inherited from the past. Studies on enlargement provide insights into the Europeanisation of CEE countries, their pre-enlargement background, and European legislation adoption. The literature emphasizes primarily the fit/misfit that Poland had at the time of enlargement, considering the economic and social legacy of communism, reliance on coal, and the acquis communautaire to comply. The analysis presents three groups of stakeholders: main political actors, actors in the energy sector, and local and public actors. Their classification is based on the identification of the level of power they hold to influence policies. Furthermore, the actors with the most power will be the ones who can impose their preferences on those of other actors and thus realize their policy preferences.