103
deep- water fi sh in the South Atlantic (Burkow and Kalleborn 2000 ; Carrera et al.
2001 ; Looser et al. 2000 ). The use of chlorinated organic chemicals was questioned
by scientists as far back as the 1950s (Linduska 1953 ) and gave rise to international
public concern after the publication of Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring’ in 1962.
While the substances in focus then were often pesticides designed to be toxic , for
example, DDT, the widely used
2 group of polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs, was not
intended to have any toxic effects. Despite that, and long after its original introduction in 1929, scientists revealed PCB in the environment in the 1960s (Jensen 1966 ).
This was the case because PCBs have persistent and bioaccumulative properties.
These properties, in combination with the substance group’s toxic properties (e.g.
carcinogenicity , reproductive toxicity , environmental toxicity ), led to severe
adverse effects in various organisms and ecosystems. In the Baltic Sea area, for
example, white-tailed eagles , grey seals , ringed seals and otters were among the
species severely affected (Bergman and Olsson 1985 ; Helander 1983 ; Roos et al.
2001 ). Findings pertaining to new types of neurological effects on humans were
reported as late as in 2001,
3 which illustrates the not seldom long time gap between
the initial use of a substance and strong evidence on chronic health effects (Schantz
et al. 2001 ).
5.3.1 EU Policy
The EU is clearly a dominant actor in BSR with regard to policy. Legislation within
the EU is divided into a primary treaty level and secondary directives, regulations
and decisions. The treaties set out the basis for the Council’s and the Parliament’s
co-decisions on secondary law, as well as stipulate legal principles – in the fi eld of
the environment, for instance, precaution and that the polluter should pay. Up to the
mid-1980s, laws relevant to the environment generally aimed to harmonise national
legislation in order to promote the free movement of, for example, products of various kinds. Since the Single European Act (EC 1986 ), however, the EU has been
mandated to legislate also in explicit order to protect the environment, an area
where laws set minimum requirements that Member States may choose to make
more stringent. If the treaty basis on the other hand is market harmonisation , it is
quite diffi cult for a Member State to deviate from the common provisions, unless,
for example, new scientifi c evidence shows that measures are needed to attain environmental objectives. To what extent that is possible is ultimately decided in the
European Court of Justice in case of a trial in which treaty-based principles on
environmental protection as well as, e.g. proportionality are considered.
When chemicals policy emerged in the European Community in the 1960s, with,
for example, a directive (EEC 1967 ) on classifi cation and labelling of industrial
chemicals, the aim was market harmonisation . Some years later, another directive
2 World production, for example, in the 1980s was in the order of millions of tonnes.
3 Human toxic effects under some exposure conditions have been reported at least since the 1930s
though; see EEA ( 2001 ).
5 Governance of Chemicals in the Baltic Sea Region: A Study of Three Generations…
deep- water fi sh in the South Atlantic (Burkow and Kalleborn 2000 ; Carrera et al.
2001 ; Looser et al. 2000 ). The use of chlorinated organic chemicals was questioned
by scientists as far back as the 1950s (Linduska 1953 ) and gave rise to international
public concern after the publication of Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring’ in 1962.
While the substances in focus then were often pesticides designed to be toxic , for
example, DDT, the widely used
2 group of polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs, was not
intended to have any toxic effects. Despite that, and long after its original introduction in 1929, scientists revealed PCB in the environment in the 1960s (Jensen 1966 ).
This was the case because PCBs have persistent and bioaccumulative properties.
These properties, in combination with the substance group’s toxic properties (e.g.
carcinogenicity , reproductive toxicity , environmental toxicity ), led to severe
adverse effects in various organisms and ecosystems. In the Baltic Sea area, for
example, white-tailed eagles , grey seals , ringed seals and otters were among the
species severely affected (Bergman and Olsson 1985 ; Helander 1983 ; Roos et al.
2001 ). Findings pertaining to new types of neurological effects on humans were
reported as late as in 2001,
3 which illustrates the not seldom long time gap between
the initial use of a substance and strong evidence on chronic health effects (Schantz
et al. 2001 ).
5.3.1 EU Policy
The EU is clearly a dominant actor in BSR with regard to policy. Legislation within
the EU is divided into a primary treaty level and secondary directives, regulations
and decisions. The treaties set out the basis for the Council’s and the Parliament’s
co-decisions on secondary law, as well as stipulate legal principles – in the fi eld of
the environment, for instance, precaution and that the polluter should pay. Up to the
mid-1980s, laws relevant to the environment generally aimed to harmonise national
legislation in order to promote the free movement of, for example, products of various kinds. Since the Single European Act (EC 1986 ), however, the EU has been
mandated to legislate also in explicit order to protect the environment, an area
where laws set minimum requirements that Member States may choose to make
more stringent. If the treaty basis on the other hand is market harmonisation , it is
quite diffi cult for a Member State to deviate from the common provisions, unless,
for example, new scientifi c evidence shows that measures are needed to attain environmental objectives. To what extent that is possible is ultimately decided in the
European Court of Justice in case of a trial in which treaty-based principles on
environmental protection as well as, e.g. proportionality are considered.
When chemicals policy emerged in the European Community in the 1960s, with,
for example, a directive (EEC 1967 ) on classifi cation and labelling of industrial
chemicals, the aim was market harmonisation . Some years later, another directive
2 World production, for example, in the 1980s was in the order of millions of tonnes.
3 Human toxic effects under some exposure conditions have been reported at least since the 1930s
though; see EEA ( 2001 ).
5 Governance of Chemicals in the Baltic Sea Region: A Study of Three Generations…