The institutional dynamics of the floods directive: assessing implementation in international river basin districts

This thesis examines the diverse implementation approaches used during the first cycle of the directive in two transboundary case study areas, spanning the Irish and Dutch-German borders. Such basins are designated ‘International River Basin Districts’ (IRBDs), with Member States compelled to develop a single plan for the whole basin or, at a minimum, coordinate plans at basin-level. The study utilises ‘Institutional Dynamics’ to assess whether the directive was effective in driving change towards flood risk management, delivering good ‘fit’ with water management cultures across different ’scales’, and facilitating ‘interplay’ between institutional actors.

Causality in institutional change is also examined at ‘output’, ‘outcome’, and ‘impact’ level, with flood governance mechanisms explored in terms of ‘legitimacy’, ‘societal resilience’ and ‘efficiency’, to comparatively derive lessons for good practice. The study demonstrates the efficacy of adapting an analytical approach for assessing international regulatory agreements to be applied in an analysis of institutional change in transboundary basins, in light of the EU normative agenda.

It also identifies the inadequacies inherent to current quantitative EU approaches to assessing institutional capacity, and highlights that public participation was notable for its absence, representing a clear failure of the institutional design of the directive in engendering better risk perception among key publics.