Introduction

Policy is often seen as a form of ‘problem solving’: the government (and thus the policy advisor) faces a social problem for which solutions are needed. In everyday practice, however, policy workers face a more complicated world, and it is the nature of this more complicated practice that will be discussed in this chapter. It will address policy-making in international and European contexts, and focus on two specific policy issues: the transport of dangerous goods, and measures taken in anticipation of natural and man-made disasters, known as ‘civil protection.’ Both of these policy issues are of an international nature, and highlight the significance of context for policy work.

Transport of dangerous goods

The safety regarding the transport of dangerous goods is a global problem, which can not be dealt with by individual nations. Transport usually does not stop at a nation's borders, which means that national regulations only apply to those transporting goods within the borders of that one nation. Policy work regarding the transport of dangerous goods therefore involves regulations across national borders, in fact, it concerns safety addressed at an international level, which means that national policy workers will become increasingly engaged in various international negotiating structures.

In the case of the transport of dangerous goods, the national policy advisor will attend meetings at the United Nations, the leading international organization in this policy field. The United Nations has a well-established system for framing international safety standards; general recommendations are made by expert groups, and these recommendations are then adopted by the rule-making bodies for specific modes of transport. The UN Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (UN SCETDG) meets semi-annually. Here recommendations are discussed for every type of transport, be it by rail, road, air or sea. Although these recommendations have no formal status, they frame the rules for consideration and are the starting point for the discussions in the formal rule-making bodies for the different modes of transport. There is, for example, a formal meeting of the dangerous goods subcommittee of the International Maritime Organization (DSC subcommittee of the IMO) on the transport of dangerous goods via containers on ships, and there are similar meetings for other modes of transport. The recommendations of the UN SCETDG are discussed in these meetings and are usually immediately translated into formal rules.