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Ex-ante institutional compatibility assessment of policy options: methodological insights from a case study on the Nitrate Directive in Auvergne, France

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 54; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09640568.2010.527128

1360-0559

Laurence Amblard, Carsten Mann,

Policy Transfer and Learning

Abstract The Procedure for Institutional Compatibility Assessment (PICA) has been developed as a formalised methodology to predict the compatibility between a policy option and the institutional context of its implementation. As a first empirical test of the tool, PICA was applied to the implementation of the EUNitrate Directive in Auvergne, France. Valuable insights were acquired on thecombination of experts and stakeholders' perspectives and the choice of qualitative methods for the collection of the information needed at each step ofthe assessment. Further, this procedure proved to be a valuable tool for the ex-ante identification of institutional factors affecting the implementation of policies. Keywords: ex-ante policy assessmentinstitutional compatibilityEU Nitrate Directiveintegrative methodology Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank their colleagues, Christian Schleyer and Konrad Hagedorn (Humboldt University, Berlin), Insa Theesfeld (Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe, Halle) and Olivier Aznar (Cemagref, Clermont-Ferrand) for their conceptual work and helpful comments. Furthermore, they acknowledge the financial support from the SEAMLESS-project that is funded by the European Union within the 6th Framework Program, Project no. 010036. Notes 1. The départements are administrative divisions of the French territory, run by elected local councils. 2. Insofar as the Nitrate Directive was already implemented in Allier and elsewhere in France, the ex-ante assessment in Puy-de-Dôme covers an institutional context that has already been influenced by the evolution of the organisation of the implementation process of the policy and the accompanying learning processes in the neighbouring département. The conditions of the evaluation are therefore not strictly speaking ex-ante conditions. 3. In some cases (e.g. intensive livestock farmers who have limited access to land to spread manure on), the overall viability of farms can be affected. 4. Institutional indicators are not used to assess the impact of the respective CIAs on the policy implementation. The evaluation of the incidence of CIAs on the implementation process is realised after the importance of each CIA in the implementation context has been characterised (see Step 4). 5. This group included the two scientists interviewed before as well as a farm management researcher. 6. Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (Institute in charge of statistics and economic studies), French Ministry of Economy. 7. Web-information of the Service Central des Etudes Economique et Statistique (Central service for economic and statistic studies), French Ministry of Agriculture. 8. Institut Français de l'Environnement (French Institute of Environment), French Ministry of Environment 9. The vulnerable zone level is not a recognised spatial unit for statistics in France. Data available at the municipality level were thus aggregated to assess indicator values at this level. 10. For example, the CIA 'Attitude of farmers toward ecological considerations' was characterised by three indicators: 'Environmental program' (the share of farmers involved in a voluntary program for limiting fertiliser use); 'Catch crop area' (the share of catch crop area in the agricultural area); 'Organic farms' (the share of organic farms). The indicator 'Organic farms' value at the national level (2.08%) was taken as the main reference point and classified as 'medium'. The indicator values at the region and Puy-de-Dôme levels (2.04% and 2.07%, respectively), close to the national reference value, were equally classified as 'medium'. The lower share of organic farms in the vulnerable zone (0.18%) was then comparatively evaluated as 'low'. Following the same comparative procedure, the indicators 'Environmental program' and 'Catch crop area' were assessed as 'low' in the vulnerable zone in Puy-de-Dôme. 11. Using the example of the 'Attitude of farmers toward ecological considerations', the three indicators being evaluated as 'low', the extent of the CIA was classified as 'low' in the Puy-de-Dôme vulnerable zone. 12. The participants were asked to rank individually the importance of each CIA within one category and the importance of each category with regard to the implementation of the policy. They also had to indicate the nature of the impact of the CIAs on the implementation process as being fostering or hindering. Individual rankings and indications were then aggregated. The lists of CIA and categories of institutional compatibility were explained to the participants before they prioritised them with the help of a ranking sheet. Aggregated results were then displayed as a basis for further discussions which were recorded and analysed later. 13. By 'bargaining power', we mean the capacity of interest groups to influence the political decision-making process. 14. Agricultural Chambers in France are regional and departmental public organisations led by representatives of agricultural and other rural stakeholders. These representatives are elected every six years by farmers, landowners, farm workers, agricultural organisations' employees, and farmers' unions. 15. The DIREN (Direction Régionale de l'Environnement) corresponds to the administrative services of the national Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Territory Planning at the regional level.