Europeanization impact on multi-level governance and social capital, in Portugal

8/8/2019 Europeanization impact on multi-level governance and social capital, in Portugal

1/18


2/18

2

regional level, taking into consideration the context of policy making prior to

accession;

To identify the most relevant actors and their role for the elaboration and theimplementation of regional development and environmental policies, including

interest groups pressures in favour or against adaptation;

With regard to the learning process the major objective consists of evaluating how

relevant actors acquired new capacities and attitudes required for supporting a

sustainable multi-level governance system. This evaluation includes the analysis of

networks of actors, either public or non-public, as well as of their social capital.

Finally, the project aims at assessing patterns of learning and adaptation through thecomparative analysis between the cohesion countries on one side and the new

enlargement countries on the other, as well as successful and failure outcomes in each

country.

Theoretical background

According to the enunciated purposes, the final outcomes of the project result from a

comparative approach. Therefore, the selection of the three Cohesion countries is

justified by the fact that all of them had traditional centralised systems of government,

weak civil society and underdeveloped social capital, when they joined the European

Community. Consequently the methodological approach of the Portuguese study

case is the same used for the other two EU Cohesion countries.

In theoretical terms, europeanization is conceived as a resultant of both the adaptation

process of government structures and procedures, either at national and sub-national

levels, and the improvement of the institutional learning capacity concerning the EU

policy-making approach in order to assure a comprehensive and effective multi-level

system of governance (sub-regional, regional, national and supranational) (Marks,

1993; Kohler-Koch, 1986; Caporaso, 1996). Therefore the comparative approach

intends to test two dimensions of europeanization, namely adaptation and learning.

Adaptation is considered as a direct effect of the EU integration process, especially in

the case of member states with a centralised state structure. More precisely, the

adaptation is perceived as the result of an external shock aiming at the

accomplishment of EU requirements by the cohesion countries so as they can afford

structural funds. In that sense, adaptation concerns essentially institutional changes

though the effectiveness of the adaptation process implies that institutional actors can

be able to endogeny the learning capacity in order to change decision-making

procedures.

The development of the learning capacity for the implementation of a sustainable

multi-level governance is a more complex process because it implies participative and

consensual policy-making decisions, which have to include public and institutional

actors but also private ones, NGO and professionals (P. Hall 1993; J. Checkel, 1998;


3/18

3

Paraskevopoulos, 2001). Moreover, the learning capacity also depends on the national

past policy attempts concerning the implementation of institutional reforms and the

existence of appropriate networks related to information and communication between

formal and informal actors in order to assure the effectiveness of their partnership and

so to the improvement of social capital.

In this study it was assumed that social capital results from the networks established

between institutional, political and social relevant actors, including formal and

informal relationships. Moreover, the efficiency of social capital depends on the

networks structure, its density, degree of centrality and of achievement of fora for

dialogue.

Within this theoretical framework, the present research project considers that learning

and adaptation are dependent variables of the pre-existing institutional system,

actors preferences and social capital, based on the processes of political exchange and

socialisation. The underlying hypothesis of this assertion is that the success of the

building up of a multi-level system of governance implies the development of

institutional capacity to design new activities and to change behaviours in order to

facilitate processes of interaction and coalition among key social and economic actors

(Paraskevopoulos, 2001). In short, this means that a successful multi-level system of

governance must be also a mix one wherein social capital and institutional networks

are the key components of the learning process and adaptation to Europeanization.

Consequently, the interaction between institutional adaptation and civic culture is

considered as a major factor to the understanding of learning capacity developments.

Regarding the project proposals, the choice of regional development policy is justified

by the fact that the success of such a policy depends on the social capital related to

institutions, bodies, agencies and other regional relevant actors as so they can perform

together an effective multi-level governance.

Additionally, the choice of environmental policy is based on the common

understanding that environmental quality is a major factor for succeeding a

sustainable regional development sewing that it is a transversal policy, which

interacts with regional policies and needs the improvement of social capital to be

accomplished (Vanhove, 1999).

Methodology

The methodology used, within that theoretical framework and in order to test the

referred hypothesis, consisted of two complementary phases.

The first phase concerned the study and analysis of the institutional and legislative

adaptation undertaken in Portugal since the adhesion to the EU, and more deeply

during the period 1994-99 that corresponds to the CSF II application. This analysis has

taken into consideration the historical Portuguese background related to the

consolidation of a centralized governmental system and more particularly the national

context of policy-making prior to accession.


4/18

4

As stated before the analysis was centred on regional and environmental development

policies, aiming at the evaluation of the impact of EU requirements for both the

attribution of structural funds and the subsequent management and monitoring of EU

co-financed Programs. A particular attention was given to the evolution of central

state policy-making structures conducting to the creation of administrative

deconcentrated bodies as well as to the development of a co-ordinating strategy

aiming at the implementation of a three levels system of governance. This analysis

includes the identification of formal and informal actors, either public or non-public

(private undertaking and citizens organisations), that have been involved in the

learning and the adaptation processes of Europeanization at national, regional and

local levels.A major output of that identification was the selection of specific regions to be used

for studying the improvement of learning capacities thoroughly. The Lisbon and

Tagus Valley region was selected for the study of regional development policy and

the Lisbon Metropolitan Area for the study of environment policy based on the urban

waste management case.

The second phase was dedicated to evaluate the improvement of social capital and its

contribution to the Portuguese learning capacity for the building-up of a multi-level

system of governance. The main tool used for this evaluation was the realisation of

semi-structured interviews addressed to the most relevant actors that were identified

during the first phase. These interviews were designed to assess not only the

understanding, attitudes and behaviours of the actors in regard to the

Europeanization process but also to identify how they connect and relate among

themselves. Then these relationships were submitted to a Social Network Analysis so

as to identify and to characterize the patterns and the level of effectiveness of social

capital.

Methodology used for the Social Network Analysis (SNA)

Selection of actors. Based on a preliminary identification of prominent organizations at

the national and sub-national levels, such as central state and regional authorities,

business associations, NGOs, and other relevant institutions having a degree ofinfluence in planning or implementing EU driven adaptational processes (EU

programmes, directives, etc.), a comprehensive listing was elaborated.

In order to narrow down the actors to be interviewed, two criteria were used: the

positional identification (the actors formal position within the policy domain at a

specific level of governance) and the reputational identification (the actors informal

influence in that domain, as perceived by other actors and society). As representatives

of each selected actor, the research gave preference in interviewing high profile

persons, since elite interviewing constitutes an important methodological tool for

testing hypothesis and carrying out qualitative research (Oppenheim, 1996).


5/18

5

Interviews. The network analysis was based on a semi-structured in-depth interview,

covering several aspects, such as structural data on the institution, its role in the policy

domain (planning, implementing, evaluating, etc.) and in the europeanization process

(access to EU funds, appliance of EU directives or programs, etc.), as well as

quantitative and qualitative indicators of the relations with other actors in the

network. Additional data was collected concerning the actors perception of social

capital performance issues, such as civil participation, political climate, etc.

Data analysis. Data obtained in the interviews was transposed to matrices, which

identify the absence or presence of linkages between actors, as well as the strength of

those linkages. The emerging pattern of linkages reveals the role and the position of

each organization and the nature of the inter-organizational relationships (Knoke andKuklinski, 1982). By using the matrices and employing UCINET software program

(Borgatti, et al., 1992), the Social Network Analysis was performed, in order to

measure the degree of institutional density, centralization and structural equivalence

among the actors, as well as to produce a visual graph of the network structure.

Two matrices were used: the adjacency matrix, where links are reported only as

present (value one) or absent (value zero), and the valued matrix, where links are

valued in terms of their strength (using a scale from value zero for an absent link to

value three for an intense relationship).

Density measurement refers to the degree of connectedness of the entire network,

whereby zero indicates no connections between any actors and one (adjacencymatrix) or three (valued matrix) means that all actors are linked to one another.

Centralization refers to the extent to which the network is organized around specific

actors, those with the greatest number and stronger linkages (Scott, 1994). Centrality

measurement reveals actors degree of involvement in network relations and

constitutes an indicator of the distribution of power among the actors.

Structural equivalence reveals the network structure by categorizing the actors in their

relational linkages and according to their common structural positions (Scott, 1994).

This research used the CONCOR technique of structural equivalence because it

produces a classification of network actors into discrete, mutually exclusive and

exhaustive categories (Knoke and Kuklinski, 1982) based on the nature of their inter-organizational relations.

Further assessments. The presence of social capital is usually identified by mass survey

data, and besides relying on previous research for this purpose, the interviews

produced some indicators to assess the actors perception and attitude towards these

issues. This exercise was somewhat helpful and contributed to the assessment of social

capital presence, such as civic participation in policy debate and interest

organizations, political climate and trust, citizenship issues, etc.

For the evaluation of the networks learning capacity, specific criteria was used. Given

the importance of dialogue and communication for the learning process, the presence

of fora for dialogue, such as conferences and committees focusing on specific fields


6/18

6

will be used as the first indicator for the identification of learning (Jenkins-Smith and

Sabatier, 1993). The building of new institutions and the expansion of the already

existing institutional networks, bringing in new actors in response to changing

external conditions that necessitate new policy areas and subsequently new sources of

information and knowledge, are seen jointly as the second criterion for learning

capacity. The problem identification procedures and the gradual achievement of

general consensus among the actors about a given problem, constitutes the third

indicator for learning. Finally, the presence of a good amount of formal and informal

communication channels among the policy actors of the public sphere, broadly

defined, and private interest actors, whereby the public-private divide is being

overcome, is seen as a necessary prerequisite for institutional thickness and learningcapacity.

Main Conclusions

Briefly, the results concerning both Portuguese regional development and

environmental policies are quite contradictory. On the positive side of the adaptation

process, one can highlight the transposition of EU directives to the Portuguese law

and the emergence of new central governance practices aiming at the involvement of

public and private actors what led to some improvement with regard to the learning

process. However that involvement was mainly determined by EU requirements for

accessing community funds. Moreover the effectiveness of new governance practiceswas prejudiced by the fact that Portuguese development strategy continued to be

based on a sectorial approach and the implementation of good practices of multi-level

governance are embarrassed by the lack of regional decentralised administrative

structures at NUT II level. Finally, the SNA analysis proved that Portuguese social

capital is yet underdeveloped and that civil society participation is very weak, in

terms of interest and concern for solutions to promote regional and environmental

developments.

The most relevant findings that support such conclusions are presented below.

1. National context of policy-making prior to accession

Most of the pressures that embarrassed the implementation of an effective regional

development policy are originated by the fact that, historically, Portugal is a

centralized state. More precisely, until 1975 Portugal was a large empire whose

dominant pole was centralized in Lisbon, the capital. These characteristics were

emphasised by the industrial policy of the Estado Novo, in particular during the

period 1953-73, that led to the settlement of large industrial plants concentrated

around Lisbon, including the south bank of Tagus river. The results were a macro-

cephalic economic structure, rulers neglecting attitude concerning regional

development and, subsequently, huge regional disparities. The unbalanced


7/18

7

geographic distribution of resources and the policy options of leadership led to a

development strategy based on sectorial activity, even after the 1974 April Revolution.

Concerning environmental policy the situation was quite similar if not worse as before

entering the Community, there were very weak concerns about environmental issues,

in Portugal.

Consequently, when Portugal joined the European Community there was neither

tradition nor experience for applying a regional development policy.

2. Assessment of the adaptational process

2.1 Evolution of central state (formal) policy-making structures

Regional development policy

The evolution of central state policy-making structures was oriented in order to

accomplish EU determinations concerning access to Structural Funds and to improve

the effectiveness of their application for promoting regional development.

Accordingly structural policy-making changes concerned the following five main

vectors of action:

1. Adaptation of the central government organic structure to the requirements ofregional development;

2. Creation of deconcentrated administrative bodies dedicated to promote regionaldevelopment policy;

3. Implementation of specific bodies in charge of co-ordinating the access, themanagement and the control of EU funds, either at national or local levels;

4. Implementation of specific units, which include representatives of the privatesector and of Municipalities for the management of regional programs;

5. Implementation of advisory bodies, which include experts and representatives ofthe civil society, for the elaboration and the follow-up of regional developmentplanning.

The first Portuguese step was to attribute to a particular Ministry the responsibility to

do it, what was done in 1985. Later, in 1999, the Minister of Planning was created,

whose responsibility included regional planning and development policy as well as

the overall co-ordination of the CSF. In order to accomplish all these tasks the

organisational structure of the Minister of Planning comprises three specialized

central departments and five deconcentrated regional services, i.e., the Regional Co-

ordinations Commissions. These ones are charged to accomplish regional planning

and regional development policies established by central government. Regional Co-


8/18

8

ordinations Commissions play also a major role as mediators between Central

Government and regional actors, including Municipalities. It should be noted that the

five Regional Co-ordination on Commissions have been created in 1979 by the

Ministry of Internal Administration in order to promote a co-ordinated strategy

among the deconcentrated bodies of central administrations, where as they have

different territorial delimitations.

This fact and the sectorial emphasis of Portuguese development strategy caused some

difficulties for the co-ordination of the overall process regarding EU funds. In order to

overcome such difficulties the Portuguese central government set up a co-ordinating

system for the access, the management and the control of EU funds. Three levels of

governance compose this system:

(1) The top level belongs to the central government:

The overall control of EU funds is in charge of the Ministry of Finance; the Ministry of

Planning is politically responsible for the correct execution of EU funds and for the

preparation and implementation of regional planning. It must be emphasised that the

Ministry of Planning, in co-operation with the Ministries of Environment and

Agriculture, is also responsible for the preparation and approval of the Regional

Physical Plans (PROTS) that define at regional level the criteria concerning the spatial

organisation of activities and the use of land. The Regional Physical Plans establish the

general framework and policy guidance for the preparation of the Municipal Director

Plans that are the main spatial planning tools aiming at structuring the municipal

territory for development control purposes. The preparation of these Municipal Plans

is closely scrutinised by Central government that is also responsible for its final and

formal approval.

(2) The middle tier of governance is performed by the Comisses de

Acompanhamento (accompanying commissions).

These Commissions aims at the co-ordination of management, monitoring, control

and assess concerning structural community interventions, in Portugal. They werecreated because for each EU structural fund there is a special agency that is in charge

of applying it and also because the Portuguese strategy of development is mainly

based on sectorial terms. Consequently, in order to accomplish its objectives, the

middle tier of governance is integrated by the national agencies responsible for EU

funds, general inspectors of the ministries involved in funds application, the regional

governments of Azores and Madeira Islands (the only two autonomous Portuguese

regions), the Regional Co-ordinations Commissions. This middle tier is chaired by the

Director-General of Regional Department that is embodied into the State Department

of Planning and Regional Development.


9/18

9

(3) At the bottom level there are management units that are in charge of operational

programs.

In the case of sectorial programs each management unit is presided over by the

concerned ministerial department. In the case of regional programs the management

units are presided over by Regional Governments (Azores and Madeira) or by the

Regional Co-ordinations Commissions. Municipal authorities are incorporated with

management units for the management of regional programs that concern their

territory. Regional business associations are also included in the management units of

regional programs. Follow-up units were also set up for each operational measure.

The complexity of the governmental structure, that was created in order to adjust the

options for both regional and sectorial developments, contributed to the

implementation of an advisory process that is especially important for the elaboration

of Development Plans. The main unofficial participants of this process are renowned

politicians and businessmen as well as experts. External consultants frequently play a

major role in plan preparation.

Moreover, the contribution of national experts is assured through their interventions

in the CSF observatory, designed as an independent think tank and critic unit related

to both the definition of priorities and the follow-up of the EU application funds.

Environmental policy

The extreme lack of laws addressing environmental issues in Portugal, until the

accession to EEC, led to a broad transposition of european policies and directives to

national law. It wasnt until 1987 that the first Environmental Law was established,

although still very broad and generalistic. In 1995, the government adopted a National

Plan for Environmental Policy, which inherited the concerns and issues from the EU

directives and policies. Since then, several EU directives were transposed, namely

concerning waste management issues, which were not addressed before. The whole

legislative framework for Waste Management was developed due to EU convergence

pressures, and this represents the most important legislative adaptation in the field ofnational environmental policy.

It was only in 1990 that environmental issues acquired such an importance that a

dedicated Ministry was established. This was the first formal structure that had the

power to define and execute policies in this field, although the first one to be created,

in 1987, was the National Institute for Environment, but only had a consulting

character. However, environmental issues tended to be integrated within all policy

areas (due to EU regulations), and therefore every ministry had to develop

competences in this area.

In fact, the Ministry of Environment is the main political and policymaking structure

in its field. At the central level, it is aided by several sectoral-based secretariats of


10/18

10

state, the General Directorate of Environment and several Institutes, which provide

political, technical and administrative support.

In terms of geographic deconcentration, Regional Environmental Directorates were

implemented, each responsible for coordinating the environmental policies at the

regional level. In practical terms, these Directorates are regional branches of the

mother institution, having no power in terms of effective policy-making, as they are

responsible for tasks as planning, licensing, monitoring and inspecting management

operations in the field of waste management, as well as promoting Research and

Development activities at the regional level.

With the development of practice in the field of environment, the Ministry felt the

need to establish several sectoral structures to be devoted to specific issues. Several

Public Institutes were created, which were called upon to contribute to the policy-

making process by developing proposals, besides having controlling and regulating

tasks. The Environmental Directorate-General is the structure that, in collaboration

with the Ministry designs the global policy and strategy for the country. The Waste

Institute is responsible for implementing the national policy and formulating sectoral

plans for waste management, and the Water and Waste Institute has at its charge the

regulation and monitoring of the waste management systems.

On the other hand, the transversal character of environmental issues in terms of

policy-making, draws the Ministry of Environment to share or require cooperation

with other government departments, like the Ministry of Planning (for managingprotected areas), the Ministry of Agriculture (land-use issues) or the Ministry of

Fishery and Sea (coastal protected areas).

Moreover, the Ministry also works in close cooperation with municipalities in several

fields. Municipalities in protected areas share representation in the respective

managing board with the ministry. The Ministry of Environment is also involved

(through the Regional Directorates) in the preparation of Local Development Plans, in

close cooperation with the municipalities.

2.2 Evolution of regional / local policy making structures


At regional level, one can highlight the role of Regional Co-ordination Commission

(RCC) for Lisbon and Tagus Valley. This RCC, as well as the other four RCC, is a

deconcentrated body of the Ministry of Planning. Although the CCR has

administrative and financial autonomy it is charged to accomplish regional planning

and development policies established by Central Government.

It must be point out that the LVT Regional Co-ordination Commission is the

administrative institution responsible for municipal and inter-municipal projects


11/18

11

supported by EU funds as well as for territorial integrated actions also supported by

EU funds.

At municipal level the major actors are the Municipalities and their bodies, the

Municipal Assembly, and the Municipal Council. Both of these bodies, as well as the

Municipal President, are elected directly by municipal residents, including EU citizens

and immigrants originating from countries that concede to Portuguese citizens the

same kind of rights. As a matter of fact, actually only immigrants originating from

Brazil and Cape Vert Islands are in that case.

Historically, Municipalities are the only kind of autarchy that has been created even

before the Portuguese nationality and that has been carried on as the major

administrative local organisation (Amaral, 1996).

As Municipal territorial areas are quite small and as the resolution of main local

problems is related to the implementation of solutions covering several adjoining

municipalities, the Portuguese law approves the constitution of Municipal

Associations4 appointed to solve specific and common objectives. At this point it must

be stressed that most of EU financial for interventions concerning regional

development are been allocated both to Municipal Associations and Municipalities.

This is the case in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Region, where there are three

Municipal Associations directed for regional development: Lisbon Metropolitan Area,

Association of West Municipalities and Association of Tagus Valley Municipalities.

The constitution of Municipal Associations depends only on the decision of the

Municipal representative bodies but it must be reported to the Ministry of Planning

for registration purposes. The competencies of each Municipal Association are

established by the Municipalities that integrate it, excepting the case of Lisbon

Metropolitan Area that was created by a specific law, in 1991 the Lisbon Metropolitan

Area aggregates the 18 municipalities of Great Lisbon and Setbal Peninsula.

According to the Law, the competencies assigned to Metropolitan Areas cover the

following areas: public transports and public roads; basic sanitation; public supplying;

environment and natural resources; civil protection; territorial planning; investments

involving more than one municipality within the Metropolitan Area.

The creation of Municipal Associations and the need to solve specific problemscommons to several municipalities led to the constitution of inter-municipal

companies. There are three kinds of inter-municipal companies as regards to capital

stakeholders and legal attributions:

1) Public companies whose stakeholders are exclusively Municipalities and/orMunicipal Associations;

2) Public capital companies whose stakeholders can be Municipalities, MunicipalAssociations and other public entities;

4 Decreto-Lei 412/89, de 29 de Novembro.


12/18

12

3) Companies where capital is mostly public, i.e. Municipalities and MunicipalAssociations are associated to private entities.

However, according to the Law, the creation of any inter-municipal company is a

decision of Municipalities and/or Municipal Associations that have also the exclusive

competence to designate and to exonerate the executive board of the companies.

Consequently the activity and the managerial policy of those companies is controlled

by Municipalities.

In a wide perspective all private undertakings settled in LTV region are agents of the

LTV regional development. Nevertheless if we consider only actors that areobjectively engaged in an integrated regional perspective of development we have to

elect only business associations as actors. As a matter of fact , in the LTV region and

since the CSF I implementation, the Central Government and the Regional Co-

ordination Commission undertook a policy in order to involve business associations

in the implementation of actions and programs for regional development co-financed

by EU funds. This was the case concerning the Integrated Operation for Setubal

Peninsula Development. With regard to CSF II the regional business associations

joined the management entities in charge of executing regional programs (Pires, 1998).

Environmental policyA regional level the major institution is the Environmental Regional Directorate (for

Lisbon and Tagus Valley), which coordinates the environmental policy in its area of

influence, and is responsible for planning, licensing, monitoring and inspecting

management operations. The promotion of research and development activities in the

region is also at its charge.

As far as Lisbon Metropolitan Area is concerned, the relevant institutional structure

responsible for Fund management and implementation is the Regional Coordination

Commission for Lisbon and Tagus Valley, which LMA is only part of.

In November 1997, the Government approved the Strategic Sectorial Plan for the

management of Solid Urban Waste (PERSU). The implementation of PERSU fit withthe need to co-ordinate, to rationalize and to increase the effectiveness of the

municipal waste management systems, as well as to help Municipalities in order to

make use of EU Funds on a more efficient and effective way. As a matter of fact,

Municipalities are responsible for urban waste management, namely for collection,

transport and final disposal of waste. However if Municipalities were able to

accomplish waste collection, the main problem of inadequate systems for the disposal

remains.

The Waste Institute, in collaboration with the Regional Environmental Directorates

and the National Association of Municipalities plays an important part in fulfilling the


13/18

13

objectives of PERSU5. Consequently Municipalities created joint waste management

systems. Additionally, the Ministry of Environment implemented the creation of

enterprises dedicated to urban waste management whose assets were mainly public.

Lisbon Metropolitan Area was a pioneer region concerning the implementation of

integrated waste management systems from the collection to the valorisation phases.

It may also be said that several municipalities in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area,

including the city of Lisbon, are engaged in implementing good practices of

sustainable development and Local Agenda 21. In institutional terms, municipalities

of this metropolitan area created different kinds of waste management systems. Multi-

municipal systems are the most widely adopted. Each of these systems is used by

several Municipalities in an integrated way and their implementation has beensupported by EU Funds and by national public funds whose management was in

charge of the Empresa Geral de Fomento (a public company dedicated to finance

public investments). At present, these systems are managed by private enterprises

whose assets are mainly public and whose bodies depend on Municipalities.

3. Assessment of the learning processThe understanding of the Portuguese capacity improvement concerning both regional

development and environmental policies has to consider that when Portugal joined

the EC there was no experience on these kind of policies and social capital was quite

weak. Consequently the learning process faces some resistances to chance.

However, responsibilities deriving from the community structural funds rules

together with the acknowledgement that market plays an important role as a prime

regulatory instrument induced changes in the Portuguese legal system and in the way

of making policy for both the central and the local levels. Accordingly, new

institutional attitudes and behaviours have emerged concerning intra and inter-

sectorial adjustments and co-operation, public-private partnerships, as well as the

involvement and participation of new actors.

3.1 Resistance to change


In Portugal the resistance to change is highly illustrated by the results of the national

Referendum for the creations of Administrative Regions.

The Portuguese Constitution established the creation of Administrative Regions and

their attributions, namely the management of public services, as well as the co-

ordination and support to Municipal activities. However the Constitution left out the

definition of territorial division for Administrative Regions as well as the

5 Decree 239/97 (September, 9)


14/18

14

establishment of their legal competences to the parliament (Assembly of Republic),

what was done in 1991. Moreover, according to the article 256 of the Constitution, the

parliamentary laws concerning that subject have to be submitted to a referendum.

The referendum was hold in 1998, with a huge abstention and the result was 51% of

the expressed votes against the creation of the administrative regions that were

proposed by the parliamentary law.

The triumph of the NO was due to the convergence of several interests, namely the

government itself, political parties and municipalities for fearing to loose power at

local level but also business lobbies whose field of action was linked to the regional

Co-ordination Commissions activity. As a matter of fact the territorial division that

was proposed for the administrative regions was not based on the intervention areas

of the Regional Co-ordination Commissions. This resolution, which was due to

political covenants among parties represented in the Parliament aiming at the

preservation of local influences, produced a large disagreement among adherents to

the idea of regionalisation.

The public rejection of administrative regions can be also considered as a consequence

of the priorities adopted to promote national development and which outcome was

the reinforcement of the trends conducting to the concentration of economic resources

and of capacities in the most important regions and cities, namely in the Lisbon and

Tagus Valley region, the only one that has reached the EU Gross Domestic Product

per capita.

Actually, in terms of resources, and in spite of EU strategies for regional distribution

of Funds, the present administrative configuration leads to a polarized vision of

development strategies. The most important regions and cities tend to be benefited in

detriment of remote, smaller and interior ones, and regional asymmetries are hardly

counteracted.

In this context high abstention rate to the Referendum is quite understandable, though

it can be considered as an expressive indicator concerning peoples indifference for

regional policy issues and so it can be also considered as an indicator of the resistance

to change.


The main negative pressure that environmental policy encountered is related to a

general resistance to change. Portuguese society still suffers the persistence of egoist

behaviours at individual and corporative level, regarding environmental issues and

concerns. This is true for citizens who do not participate in simple ecological tasks at

home, but also for administrative institutions and economic activities that resist to

improve their methods to avoid pollution.

The fact that environmental policy was new to the Portuguese decision-making

institutions and actors caused a general resistance in adopting these new concerns and

issues into the traditional procedures and processes. This was clearly felt at the local


15/18

15

level, where municipal authorities resisted to accept the responsibility on

environmental concerns and issues as their own. The lack of information and the fear

of population dissatisfaction led to some resistance by the local leaders in creating

land filling structures, or adopting new ways of addressing waste management and

providing more resources to its development. The financial pressures worsen this

situation that municipalities live, which often lead local politicians to decisions that do

not take the environmental concerns into account. The most visible example is the

arbitrary and somewhat chaotic management of land use and urban development,

since the licensing of lands is the most effective and quick solution to obtain financial

resources to face increasing demands.

The same kind of resistance was felt in the private sector, where companies resisted(and still resist) to the improvement of environmental solutions, invoking the low

levels of productivity and business performance. This behaviour finds safe ground in

the lack of efficient inspection and legal responsibility of polluting activities. In fact,

the lack of laws on environmental responsibility is still felt and legal obligations for

economic activities to comply with safe environmental standards are not widely

spread.

3.2 Improvement of social capital at regional level


The preparation and implementation of Regional and Municipal Development Plans

played a major role in all the learning process. A new cycle of planning has been

emerging progressively. Step-by-step the regulatory approach was substituted by a

more comprehensive and participative methodology.

Namely, at local level, formal and informal means of association and co-operation

have been created, promoting more flexibility and openness in the field of

Municipalities activities and its interface with business affairs. This approach

emphasises the importance of social networks in order to develop mechanisms of

consensus.However, the weak civil participation and the lack of regional structures, legitimated

by peoples election, explain that the Ministry of Planning continues to keep a huge

relevance for mobilising both Portuguese business class and Municipalities for using

properly communitary funds.

Concerning Lisbon and Tagus Valley (LTV) Region such a strategy was quite

successfully and led to a larger decentralisation, namely by the realisation of contract-

programs between management bodies in charge of operational programs and

Associations of Municipalities. These contract-programs included technical,

administrative and financial management of regional programs as well as the

management of municipal investments.


16/18

16

The LTV Regional Co-ordination Commission played a major role in this process,

acting as mediator between Central Government and regional actors. For the better

understanding of this role, it must be reproduced that the allocation of Communitary

Funds was done according to the Portuguese Regional Development Plan, which

strategy has been defined by the Portuguese Government. Consequently the patterns

of interest intermediation were influenced by the sectorial and regional objectives

inherent to the CSF and the Cohesion Fund.

Another relevant improvement concerning learning capacity is evaluation. The

European Unions imposition of evaluating structural funds had significant effects on

the national evaluation mechanisms. But these effects were not limited to the

development of suitable structures and procedures in order to satisfy communitydemands. In general, evaluation became a visible part of the public and administrative

agenda at all levels; an evaluation culture started being created, which although only

in the very early stages, has reflexes in public action as a whole.


As often stressed before, the Portuguese environmental policy history is closely

related to the EU accession and integration process. The case of environment is therefore one where the europeanization process demanded a huge effort in learning

and adapting the policy-making structures to these new domains, and we can say that

it was generally successful.

Legal adaptation was in fact the most important goal when exploring the

opportunities of accessing to the EU, since the lack of environmental law was evident

in the country. Learning capacity can also be identified in the arising and

development of new relations and partnerships between different actors in the

national arena. New legal forms were created to address practical issues like the

investment in infra-structures, associating municipalities and private companies.

Along with this process, the establishment of EU Funds to be invested in Portugal

demanded an effort in terms of knowledge to properly manage and apply these

financial supports. Human resources at all administrative levels had to acquire

competences in this field, and several structures were created to implement, manage,operate, control and evaluate the investment programs.

However, the centralized traditional political system had its influence in the policy-

making processes, even in the environmental domain. This traditional centralization,

along with the absence of effective administrative regions, the small dimension of

municipalities and the single leadership of the Ministry of Environment contributed to

the maintenance of a top-down and centre-periphery approach to policy-making and

relationships between actors.

Therefore, the institutional networks found in the environmental policy-making

practices are very formal and mainly influenced by operational imperatives, instead of

contributing to the discussion of issues and pointing to consensual solutions and


17/18

17

approaches. Environmental policy is still very centralized around national level actors

and mainly public authorities. On the other hand, local level government, i.e.

Municipalities play an increasingly important role in implementing and facilitating

developments in the environmental domain (by themselves, or associating with other

municipalities). This is so due to the fact that the management of local issues like

waste treatment infrastructures, land-use (which influences urban, agricultural and

industrial development) or natural resources are under their political and legal

influence.

Although university education in the environmental domain is a growing activity in

Portugal, there is still a lack of qualified human resources at the administrative local

and regional bodies. Finally, civic organisations are not a very common structure to befound in the policy-making arena. The most visible exception is found in the cases

where the local population gathered to demonstrate and fight against the co-

incineration process in their vicinity. Nevertheless, despite some counter trends,

private sector and civil society in general are now more concerned by environmental

issues.


18/18

18

References

Amaral, Diogo freitas (1996) Curso de Direito Administrativo, 2. edio, Coimbra: Almedina.

Borgatti S. P., Everett M. G. and Freeman L. C. (1992) UCINET IV Version 1.00, Columbia: Analytic

Technologies.

Caporaso, J. (1996) The European Union and Forms of the State. Westphalian, Regulatory or Post-

Modern?, JCMS, 34:1, pp.29-52.

Checkel, Jeffrey T (1998) Social Construction, Institutional Analysis and the Study of European Integration,

paper presented at the 26th ECPR-Joint Sessions of Workshops, University of Warwick, 23-28 March.

Hall, Peter A. (1993) Policy Paradigms, Social Learning and the State: The case of Economic Policymaking

in Britain, Comparative Politics, Vol. 25, pp.275-96.Jenkins-Smith H. C. and Sabatier P. A. (1993) The Dynamics of Policy-oriented Learning, in Policy Change

and Learning:An Advocacy Coalition Approach, pp 41-56, Boulder: Westview Press.

Knoke D. and Kuklinski J. H. (1982) Network Analysis, Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.

Kohler-Koch, Beate (1996) Catching up with change: the transformation of governance in the European

Union, Journal of European Public Policy, Vol. 3, No 3, pp. 359-80.

Marks, G (1993) Structural Policy and Multilevel Governance in the EC, in A. Cafruny & Glenda Rosenthal

(eds), The State of the European Community: The Maastricht debates and Beyond, Vol.2,pp. 391-410,

London: Longman.

Oppenheim A. N. (1996) Questionnaire design, Interviewing and Attitude Measurement, London: Pinter.

Paraskevopoulos, C.J (2001) Interpreting Convergence in the European Union: Patterns of Collective Action,

Social Learning and Europeanization, Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Pires, Lus Madureira (1998) A poltica regional europeia e Portugal, Lisboa: Fundao Calouste

Gulbenkian.

Scott J. (1994) Social Network Analysis: A Handbook, London: Sage Publications.

Vanhove, Norbert (1999) Regional Policy: A European Approach, third edition, Great Britain: MPG Books

Ltd, Bodmin, Gornwall.

Documents

Europeanization impact on multi-level governance and social capital, in Portugal