Implementing Programmes to Reduce Nitrate Pollution from Agriculture in Brittany, France

Programmes to reduce nitrate pollution from Brittany's farms involve regulations, subsidies and communications with farmers. Complexity and frequent changes in programmes have contributed to farmers' investment decisions that look unsound in retrospect and to the inability of farmers to keep track of requirements. Regulatory complexity and changes have also led regulators to incur increased coordination costs and to experience losses of credibility. Moreover, compliance costs plus regulators' inability to independently verify compliance give farmers incentives to ignore some requirements. Enforcement of regulations was low during the 1990s, but monitoring (and associated changes in compliance) increased notably after 2000 following pressure from the European Union in response to water quality violations in Brittany.