Consumer' sovereignty and policy issues in the development of product ecolabels

Quality labels are not new, but the last decade saw labeling schemes to be increasingly targeted at expert qualities – i.e. qualities involving a high degree of scientific expertise in order to be assessed. The paper takes a close look at the regulatory and institutional framework underlying the development of one of these labels: the EU ecolabeling program (CEE, 1992). In order to better understand the conditions for the development of product ecolabels, we examine a success story, the case of the paints and varnishes European Ecolabel and contrast it the result with case of industrial opposition (detergent industry). The comparison pints at the importance of the negotiation phase in the development of product ecolabels. It also suggests that the degree of technological heterogeneity of the concerned industry - i.e. the extent to which the environmental performance of the products sold by the different firms are different - may be a variable determining the chances of success in the development of an ecolabel. The conclusion examines the lessons that can be drawn for the development of environmentally effective product ecolabels. It proposes tracks for further research on the subject.