The European contribution to global environmental governance Vogler, John

 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  How big is the EU in environmental impacts? 18.6% in oil consumption < 25% in the US  How did the EU’s policy competence grow? Any event caused the growth? UN Conference on Human Environment in 1972 Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution Convention(LRTAP) in 1979 The EU as an actor

 How did the role change by the EU and the US in the international negotiations on climate change?  How did the EU take an initiative in leading the global climate change talks?  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?

 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?  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. The EU and international environmental cooperation

 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 important in successful coordination of policies and positions Inconsistencies between the 27 members It may take longer time to coordinate before negotiations

 The EU as a disseminator of norms and as an incorporator of others  The EU’s enlargement process, what impacts on environment? Accession countries must adopt some 300 legislative 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 Dissemination of norms and incorporation of other actors

 The EU’s dissemination of best practice policies “export” some of its principles and policies 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

 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 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. The EU and sustainable development

 Rio process? UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED - also known as the Earth Summit) held in Rio de Janeiro in 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, and dairy products) by the EU and members Damaging environment and other region’ farmers Conflicts with WTO rule  Reforms are being discussed

 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 Community- wide 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.greenhouseemissionsEuropean Unionbubble The EU and implementation

 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? Conclusion and discussions