Download The European contribution to global environmental governance

The European contribution to
global environmental
governance
Vogler, John
The EU as an actor
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When the EU emerged as a leading player?
• The EU’s emergence as a leading player in the global
environmental politics since 1973, right after 1972
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How big is the EU in environmental impacts?
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How did the EU’s policy competence grow? Any
event caused the growth?
• 18.6% in oil consumption < 25% in the US
• UN Conference on Human Environment in 1972
• Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution
Convention(LRTAP) in 1979
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How did the role change by the EU and the US in
the international negotiations on climate change?
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How did the EU take an initiative in leading the
global climate change talks?
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The EU’s activities are mainly involved in MEAs?
• Internal vs. external environmental policy
• Bilateral vs. multilateral
• How does the Commission’s DG for the environment
function?
The EU and international
environmental cooperation
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What can we say about the EU’s to act as an
actor in the global negotiations?
• Does the EU have its legal and actual capacity in
acting as a player in the global environmental
negotiations?
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What are shared or concurrent competence?
• The EU is a signatory of more than 60 MEAs
• Regional treaties: seas and watercourses
• Global treaties: Stratospheric Ozone, Biodiversity,
Desertification, UNFCCC (Kyoto Protocol), etc.
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Regarding the EU’s internal
environmental policies, what kinds of
problems does the EU experience?
• Competencies may collide with each other
• The EU’s rotating presidency may be
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important in successful coordination of
policies and positions
Inconsistencies between the 27 members
It may take longer time to coordinate before
negotiations
Dissemination of norms and
incorporation of other actors
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The EU as a disseminator of norms and as an
incorporator of others
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The EU’s enlargement process, what impacts on
environment?
• Accession countries must adopt some 300 legislative
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acts (environmental acquis, a whole system of laws)
=> benefits and blessings for global environment.
Why?
Every accession country has succeeded?
Lisbon Treaty and the pressure to deregulate and
liberalize policies

The EU’s dissemination of best practice
policies
• “export” some of its principles and policies
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beyond the single market
What examples? Precautionary P, PPP,
proximity P, and the norm of integrated
approach (ENV with other policies)
Principle 15 of Rio declaration
Precautionary principle in the 2000
Cartagena Protocol to the CBD
The EU and sustainable
development
Integration of environment and development
 Reinforced by the 2002 Johannesburg WSSD
 How did the Cardiff process work in the EU?
• This is the name given to the process launched by
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European heads of state and government (The
European Council) at their meeting in Cardiff, in
June 1998, requiring different Council formations
to integrate environmental considerations into
their respective activities, putting article 6 of the
EC Treaty into practice.

Rio process?
• UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED •
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also known as the Earth Summit) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
The Framework Convention on Climate Change and the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
The Rio Declaration and the Statement of Forest Principles and
adopted Agenda 21 , a plan for achieving sustainable
development in the 21st century.
A Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was created
in December 2002 to ensure effective follow-up of the UNCED.
In 2002, a ten-year review was held at the World Summit on
Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South
Africa.

Some critical areas for SD where environmental,
trade, and development regimes interact

Examples of such conflicts that have been
implemented by the EU
• CAP, CFP receiving a lot of subsidies (sugar, cotton,
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and dairy products) by the EU and members
Damaging environment and other region’ farmers
Conflicts with WTO rule
Reforms are being discussed
The EU and implementation
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Capacity to implement its commitments is important
“Acting at 25”
• DG Environment must deal with 27 member states
The EU cannot “deliver” on its agreement because its
lack of competence?
The EU’s trial and errors in trying the Communitywide carbon taxes (rigid way!) vs an innovative
approach in Kyoto protocol such as the EU bubble
(flexible way!)
• A greenhouse gas emissions bubble in which members
states of the European Union have accepted an aggregated
emissions reduction target and arrangements that allow
the target to be shared among all of the countries within
the bubble.
Conclusion and discussions
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How do you think of the EU’s roles and activities for
the last several decades especially since the 1970s
Has the EU played a decisive role in EU-wide region or
in the international environmental arena?
If yes, in what sense? If no, in what respects?
How strong was the EU’s legal capacity in ENV policies
compared to member states? Has it changed over time?
What kinds of impacts have the enlargement processes
had on the EU and the world?
Do you think that the EU now take initiatives in many
global environmental talks such as climate change or
other issues?