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Hazardous Substances in Electronics: The Effects of European Union Risk Regulation on China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Katja Biedenkopf
Katja Biedenkopf*
Affiliation:
University of Amsterdam
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Abstract

This article argues that European Union (EU) risk regulation of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) was both a trigger and formative factor in the development of similar Chinese regulation. The attractiveness and global interdependence of the EU market in EEE impelled a response from Chinese policy-makers. Fostering the domestic industry's global competitiveness was one of the driving factors behind Chinese substance restriction regulation. Additionally, symbolic emulation and growing domestic environmental problems related to waste EEE infl uenced the Chinese policy agenda. Chinese substance restriction rules are not, however, a mere copy of EU regulation. The limited domestic capacity of the Chinese economy, administration, and legal structure to adopt policies similar to those of the EU explains, to a large extent, the emergence and partial persistence of differences between EU and Chinese risk regulation. In the course of the implementation and evaluation of Chinese substance restriction regulation, lessons learned from the EU’s experience increasingly contributed to shaping the policy, leading to growing convergence.

Type
Symposium on Comparing Risk Regulation in China and the Eu
Information
European Journal of Risk Regulation , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , December 2012 , pp. 477 - 487
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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References

1 The research presented in this article was funded by the Kolleg Forschergruppe (KFG) ‘The Transformative Power of Europe’ hosted at the Freie Universität Berlin. The KFG is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The author would like to thank all interviewees that contributed to this research for sharing their valuable insights.

2 This law will be replaced by a revised version on 3 January 2013, namely by Directive 2011/65/EU.

3 A number of variants of the title are used in English translations such as Management Methods and Management Measures. Their divergence however is marginal and does not change the meaning.

4 In 2008, the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) gained additional competences for industry, trade, science and technology and was renamed the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

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15 Decision No 768/2008/EC.

16 Article 1, Administrative Measures, 28 February 2006.

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23 A list of all interviews can be found in the annex.

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31 Ferris, R. J., “China's Increasing Focus on Europe”, at p. 6, supra note 5; interviews 5 & 6.

32 Interviews 4, 5, 7, 9 & 10.

33 Interview 2.

34 Interviews 5, 7 & 10.

35 Presentation by Chinese offi cial, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, 24 June 2007.

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40 Interview 5.

41 Interview 12.

42 Interview 4.

43 Interviews 5, 7 & 10.

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47 Article 4.2, Directive 2011/65/EU.