Abstract

The article puts forward a reconstruction of the decision-making at EU level concerning the regulation of the polluting emissions in the urban areas. Firstly, it is argued that since the end of the 1980s the environmental policy arena has achieved autonomy within the EU policies. The network of the European environmental policy is identified. Secondly, the complexity of the decision enhanced the role of agencies linked to some of the Member States and of some technical working groups. Thirdly, the decision-making process reveals the WHO's role in formulating the problem and advancing some suggestions towards its solution. The decision was made on the basis of shared values and was legitimized by technic and scientific information delivered by experts, technical committees and other external agencies.