TOP-DOWN AND BOTTOM-UP POLICY IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH – THE CASE OF WIND POWER DEVELOPMENT IN THE NORDIC COUNTRIES AND THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

Abstract

Environmental policy integration (EPI) is the incorporation of environmental concerns in sectoral policies outside the conventional environmental policy domain. Dealing with such concerns is necessary because research indicated that the institutional specialization of policies for specific sectors has resulted in insufficient consideration of environmental impacts, as sectoral policies might have objectives in conflict with environmental objectives and are able to influence the root causes of environmental pressure. There is a consensus that the link between environment and energy policies has transformed and modified the energy policy in Europe, not the least by the potential of renewable electricity (RES-E). Therefore, studying the RES-E perspective within an EPI initiative is relevant and the present article aims to contribute to a more sector-specific understanding of EPI. More precisely, by focusing on the conditions for the expansion of wind energy in the Nordic countries and Serbia, the present research aims to illustrate the necessity of understanding the national, regional and local contexts for more effective RES-E implementation.