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Backhaus, Jürgen G. --- "Subsidiarity" [1999] ELECD 17; in Backhaus, G. Jürgen (ed), "The Elgar Companion to Law and Economics" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 1999)

Book Title: The Elgar Companion to Law and Economics

Editor(s): Backhaus, G. Jürgen

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781858985169

Section: Chapter 10

Section Title: Subsidiarity

Author(s): Backhaus, Jürgen G.

Number of pages: 9

Extract:

10 Subsidiarity
Jiirgen G. Backhaus


Introduction
The principle of subsidiarity, since it became part of the Treaty of Maastricht
and thereby of European constitutional law, has received a lot of attention. Its
relationship to ecological issues, however, has rarely been explored.
Subsidiarity is a perfectly generalizable principle of organization. It can
apply to all areas of policy: financial, agricultural, technological, education,
defence, economic development and, of course, environmental policy. The
principle of subsidiarity is an organizing principle. Taken as such, it is silent
about the specific purpose, direction or content of a particular policy. What-
ever may be the purpose of the policy, the principle of subsidiarity requires
that it be carried out within that context which is the smallest viable one in
which the objective can successfully be attained. When a task is too compli-
cated for a small unit such as an office or a firm to carry out successfully, that
unit has to be augmented to the point where the task can be performed
effectively. Likewise, if an organization is too large to handle successfully
particular problems, as its procedures may be too cumbersome, as it lacks
sufficient detailed information or experiences repeated recurrence of prob-
lems it has tried to settle, a different organizational form must be found,
preferably an existing one, which is closer to the problem at hand and'able to
carry out the policy in question. It goes without saying that along with the
shift in responsibility will go the access to resources ...