Through a detailed analysis this book examines the role of law in European Union integration processes through the implementation of the EU Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control at European Level and in the UK and Germany. The book questions traditional conceptions which perceive law as the 'formal law in the books', as instrumental and as relatively autonomous in relation to its social contexts. The book also discusses in depth how the key legal obligation on the Directive, to employ 'the best available techniques', is actually implemented. This research locates the analysis of the implementation of the IPPC Directive in the wider context of current, cutting-edge political science and sociology of law debates about the role of law in EU integration processes, the nature of EU law, new modes of governance and the significance of 'law in action' for understanding legal process.