Instruments for policy integration: intermediate report of the RIW Project POINT

Abstract

Integration (EPI) has become an important objective on the political agenda by now, mainly forced by the Rio Convention, the Treaty of Amsterdam and different requirements on the national level. In recent years, a range of new strategies, institutions and instruments have been developed, among these Cardiff-type sectoral strategies, strategic environmental assessments or green cabinets etc. These often rely on processes of governmental selfregulation. However, current efforts show only limited improvements in the implementation of the EPI-principle. Against the recognition of the importance of a better knowledge base as a condition for integrated policy making, EPI largely remains to be question of political power and relationships within government. The report develops a systematic typology of the different strategies and instruments that have been implemented in the OECD countries and evaluates their use for contributing to the overall strategic objectives of EPI. By critically assessing the success conditions of the different approaches based on a cross-country comparison, we conclude with a rather sceptical estimation, whether governmental self-regulation is an strategic approach that runs alone. The report is part of the BMBF-funded research project POINT3D that develops a software for an integrated appraisal of new policies.