Abstract This article provides a comparative study of policy integration between the forest and water sectors across EU Member States and explores the main ecological, policy and socio-economic drivers behind integration choices. Policy integration is defined by the range of instruments among which countries can choose to integrate these two natural resource sectors and these are categorized in regulatory, organizational, financial and informational instruments. We conducted a survey to gather data and used Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to explore the drivers of policy integration. With QCA we observe which combinations of drivers relate to certain instrument choices. Overall, we see that the positive expected outcomes of water and forest interactions are already being exploited by some countries. The most often observed policy integration is implemented along regulatory and informational instruments. We found contexts with high water quality, forest and water sectoral strength and with allocation of rural development funds for ecosystem services, to be conductive to policy integration. Government expenditure on environmental protection relates mostly to informational instruments which concerns research and monitoring activities. The article concludes that policy integration at the forest and water nexus is still an incomplete policy process across EU Member States, but the current policy developments are promising for proponents of integration and can lead to a stronger nexus in the future.

中文翻译：

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森林和水资源关系的跨部门政策整合：欧盟国家层面的工具选择和整合驱动因素

摘要 本文对欧盟成员国森林和水部门之间的政策整合进行了比较研究，并探讨了整合选择背后的主要生态、政策和社会经济驱动因素。政策整合是由国家可以选择整合这两个自然资源部门的工具范围来定义的，这些工具分为监管、组织、金融和信息工具。我们进行了一项调查以收集数据并使用定性比较分析 (QCA) 来探索政策整合的驱动因素。通过 QCA，我们观察哪些驱动程序组合与某些仪器选择相关。总的来说，我们看到一些国家已经在利用水和森林相互作用的积极预期成果。最常观察到的政策整合是通过监管和信息工具实施的。我们发现水质高、森林和水部门实力强以及为生态系统服务分配农村发展资金的背景有利于政策整合。政府在环境保护方面的支出主要与涉及研究和监测活动的信息工具有关。文章得出的结论是，森林和水资源关系的政策整合在整个欧盟成员国中仍然是一个不完整的政策过程，但当前的政策发展对整合的支持者来说是有希望的，并且可以在未来形成更强大的联系。森林和水资源部门的实力以及为生态系统服务分配农村发展资金，有利于政策整合。政府在环境保护方面的支出主要与涉及研究和监测活动的信息工具有关。文章得出的结论是，森林和水资源关系的政策整合在整个欧盟成员国中仍然是一个不完整的政策过程，但当前的政策发展对整合的支持者来说是有希望的，并且可以在未来形成更强大的联系。森林和水资源部门的实力以及为生态系统服务分配农村发展资金，有利于政策整合。政府在环境保护方面的支出主要与涉及研究和监测活动的信息工具有关。文章得出的结论是，森林和水资源关系的政策整合在整个欧盟成员国中仍然是一个不完整的政策过程，但当前的政策发展对整合的支持者来说是有希望的，并且可以在未来形成更强大的联系。