The EU in International Environmental Politics

The EU in International Environmental Politics Chad Damro University of Edinburgh The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland PRIMARY QUESTIONS  To what extent has the EU overcome the obstacle of shared competence in UN environmental politics?  How might the EU’s impact be magnified? Internal Effectiveness  ERTA Decision (1971)  Environmental Action Programmes  Shared competence determines EU’s ability to…  Represent Union at international negotiations  Sign and ratify agreements  Implement domestic measures necessary to meet commitments External Effectiveness  EU is signatory to over 60 MEAs  EU’s relations with UN system via  UNEP  CSD  EU’s ability to attain objectives and manage lengthy UN negotiations on climate change EU Magnification I  Pursue compromise with AP6  Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate  Australia, India, Japan, PRC, S. Korea, USA  Promote enviro objectives in IOs  UN agencies, G8, OECD EU Magnification II  Link environmental issues to trade incentives  Inter-regional trade and bilateral agreements  WTO’s Doha Round (MEAs and ecolabelling)  WTO membership EU Magnification III  Promote ‘global environmental governance’  Improve coordination among overlapping MEAs  Upgrade UNEP  Lead by implementation example  ETS Success?  ETS Crash?  NAP negotiations Conclusions  Some hope and cause for concern  EU seems to have overcome limitations of shared competence  Still can be confusing to third parties  Implementation issues/credibility?  Role of US and AP6?  Watch for 2012…