Environmental policy is an area of shared competence in the EU. Over time, with the growth in EU ... more Environmental policy is an area of shared competence in the EU. Over time, with the growth in EU environmental legislation, more competence in internal policy measures has been moved to the EU level, while external representation in international environmental organisations and negotiations remains shared between the EU and member states. As many environmental problems are 'collective' or 'commons' problems, policy responses necessarily need the buy-in from a multitude of actors, often across borders in a regional or global context, to be effective (Hardin 1968). EU environmental policy has become ever more ambitious since its beginnings in the 1970s, at least until the mid-2000s (Haigh 2015). It moved member states towards adopting a precautionary approach to environmental protection, and promoted principles such as environmental policy integration across policy sectors for the pursuit of sustainable development (Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, Art. 11). The EU has also tried to upload these principles to the international level by means of its participation in many multilateral environmental agreements. Results of more than forty years of EU environmental policy have shown marked improvements in the quality of the environment and reductions in pollution (EEA 2016). Key early environmental policy measures that still form a strong base in EU policy include the Birds and Habitats Directives (adopted in 1979 and 1992 respectively). In the UK, the implementation of these Directives led to the establishment of 620 'Special Protected Areas', 31 'Sites of Community Importance' and 270 'Special Areas of Conservation', including both land and marine protected sites. 1 EU environmental policy only expanded and grew over the years, with measures on water quality and management, chemicals management, noise pollution, environmental assessment, air pollution, waste management, marine protection, biodiversity protection and climate change being added to the portfolio. Overall, policy measures increased in number and, usually also, in ambition. The continued high ambition of EU environmental policy was stalled somewhat in the wake of the 2008 economic and financial crises. Member states with pressing unemployment, debt, and competitiveness concerns became less interested and less
Travel GHG emissions seem to be a main challenge to tackle when organising small-size internation... more Travel GHG emissions seem to be a main challenge to tackle when organising small-size international academic conferences at which amounts of food and energy consumed are not that large. Offsetting mechanisms may not be the most appropriate tool for reducing travel emissions. Instead, other measures such as combining the attendance of several events in one long-distance trip seem to be a more promising option. A more systematic approach to obtaining emissions data on the event's food and energy consumption may assist in selecting more climate-friendly accommodations and event venues to try to keep the event's emissions low.
International Environmental Agreements-politics Law and Economics, Dec 15, 2018
Recent scholarly work on the European Union (EU) in international environmental agreements has th... more Recent scholarly work on the European Union (EU) in international environmental agreements has thus far lacked a focus on explaining variation in EU performance/effectiveness in different negotiation processes within one agreement, especially when it comes to less prominent issue areas such as biodiversity. To fill that gap, this article seeks to explain the EU's effectiveness (goal achievement-GA) as a negotiator in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in three key negotiation processes: (1) the negotiations on the coming into being of the CBD (1990-1992); (2) the negotiations towards a Cartagena Protocol on biosafety (1995-2000); and (3) the negotiations towards a Nagoya Protocol on the access to and benefit-sharing of genetic resources (2004-2010). For each case, the article measures EU effectiveness/GA by comparing the EU's objectives for the international negotiations at the early stages of the process with the outcome of these negotiations. It tries to explain the degree of EU GA by considering EU diplomatic engagement and the EU's position in the constellation of all negotiating parties in terms of issue-specific bargaining power and interests. It highlights the EU's successful performance as a mediator and bridge builder in the negotiations on the Cartagena and Nagoya Protocols. This diplomatic engagement resulted in a high degree of EU GA as it was well adapted to the EU's position in the constellation of all negotiating parties in terms of bargaining power and interests. This article emphasises the need to adapt EU diplomatic engagement to this position to boost EU GA.
This article compares the degree to which the European Union (EU) managed to play a leadership ro... more This article compares the degree to which the European Union (EU) managed to play a leadership role at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Copenhagen negotiations in December 2009 and the Cancún negotiations in December 2010. Our notion of leadership is composed of (a) direction (i.e. the degree to which an actor pushes towards a recognised collective purpose), and (b) goal-attainment (which is explained by three factors: coherence, the opportunity structure, and politicisation). The outcomes of the Copenhagen negotiations have been rather disappointing for the EU in terms of its substantial ambitions and leadership expectations. At Cancún, the Union had a firmer hold on the outcomes, but its goals have also been less ambitious compared to the Copenhagen negotiations.
By bundling the manifold policy expertise of the researchers of the Institute for European Studie... more By bundling the manifold policy expertise of the researchers of the Institute for European Studies (IES), this paper forms part of a series of analyses investigating the potential implications of a ‘Brexit’ scenario for different EU policies. All papers ask the same three questions: 1) What is the state of the EU policy in focus? 2) What is the UK’s role/interest in this policy field? 3) What are the potential implications of a ‘Brexit’ scenario at the policy-level? After Claire Dupont and Florian Trauner introduce the project, Richard Lewis sets the historical and cultural context and explains how the UK and the EU have come to such a low-point in their relations. Next, five policy fields are analysed: justice and home affairs; free movement policies; EU external representation; the (digital) single market; and environmental policy.
Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 2020
This article assesses the evolving 'stringency' of multilateral climate mitigation governance tow... more This article assesses the evolving 'stringency' of multilateral climate mitigation governance towards the 2015 Paris Agreement. To do so, we systematically distinguish four key dimensions of hard/soft governance: (1) formal legal status; (2) the nature of the obligations (procedural-substantive); (3) prescriptiveness and precision; and (4) implementation review and response. We find that the governance approach of the Paris Agreement is significantly softer than the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, but harder than the 2010 Cancun Agreements under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. As a result, the Paris Agreement has had a differentiated effect on the stringency of governance. On the one side, it has softened climate governance for countries that are parties to the Kyoto Protocol, most notably the European Union. On the other side, it has hardened the international governance framework for developing countries and industrialised countries that are not subject to the Kyoto Protocol, including the US, Japan, Canada, and Russia. The shifting climate geopolitics of the twenty-first century helps us understand this development.
By bundling the manifold policy expertise of the researchers of the Institute for European Studie... more By bundling the manifold policy expertise of the researchers of the Institute for European Studies (IES), this paper forms part of a series of analyses investigating the potential implications of a ‘Brexit’ scenario for different EU policies. All papers ask the same three questions: 1) What is the state of the EU policy in focus? 2) What is the UK’s role/interest in this policy field? 3) What are the potential implications of a ‘Brexit’ scenario at the policy-level? After Claire Dupont and Florian Trauner introduce the project, Richard Lewis sets the historical and cultural context and explains how the UK and the EU have come to such a low-point in their relations. Next, five policy fields are analysed: justice and home affairs; free movement policies; EU external representation; the (digital) single market; and environmental policy.
Dominante frames verschuiven doorheen de tijd. Zo blijkt uit een analyse van de rol van wetenscha... more Dominante frames verschuiven doorheen de tijd. Zo blijkt uit een analyse van de rol van wetenschappelijke expertise in de ontwikkeling van het klimaatbeleid van de Europese Unie (EU). In de vroege jaren van beleidsontwikkeling was een wetenschappelijke framing van klimaatverandering cruciaal voor politieke besluitvorming. De invloed van het wetenschappelijke frame nam echter af naarmate de beleidscyclus vorderde. In dit artikel presenteren we drie redenen voor deze verandering: (1) de complexiteit van zowel klimaatverandering als het EU-beleidsvormingsproces, (2) het politieke gewicht van concurrerende beleidsframes en (3) de communicatie over het wetenschappelijke frame.
Environmental policy is an area of shared competence in the EU. Over time, with the growth in EU ... more Environmental policy is an area of shared competence in the EU. Over time, with the growth in EU environmental legislation, more competence in internal policy measures has been moved to the EU level, while external representation in international environmental organisations and negotiations remains shared between the EU and member states. As many environmental problems are 'collective' or 'commons' problems, policy responses necessarily need the buy-in from a multitude of actors, often across borders in a regional or global context, to be effective (Hardin 1968). EU environmental policy has become ever more ambitious since its beginnings in the 1970s, at least until the mid-2000s (Haigh 2015). It moved member states towards adopting a precautionary approach to environmental protection, and promoted principles such as environmental policy integration across policy sectors for the pursuit of sustainable development (Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, Art. 11). The EU has also tried to upload these principles to the international level by means of its participation in many multilateral environmental agreements. Results of more than forty years of EU environmental policy have shown marked improvements in the quality of the environment and reductions in pollution (EEA 2016). Key early environmental policy measures that still form a strong base in EU policy include the Birds and Habitats Directives (adopted in 1979 and 1992 respectively). In the UK, the implementation of these Directives led to the establishment of 620 'Special Protected Areas', 31 'Sites of Community Importance' and 270 'Special Areas of Conservation', including both land and marine protected sites. 1 EU environmental policy only expanded and grew over the years, with measures on water quality and management, chemicals management, noise pollution, environmental assessment, air pollution, waste management, marine protection, biodiversity protection and climate change being added to the portfolio. Overall, policy measures increased in number and, usually also, in ambition. The continued high ambition of EU environmental policy was stalled somewhat in the wake of the 2008 economic and financial crises. Member states with pressing unemployment, debt, and competitiveness concerns became less interested and less
Travel GHG emissions seem to be a main challenge to tackle when organising small-size internation... more Travel GHG emissions seem to be a main challenge to tackle when organising small-size international academic conferences at which amounts of food and energy consumed are not that large. Offsetting mechanisms may not be the most appropriate tool for reducing travel emissions. Instead, other measures such as combining the attendance of several events in one long-distance trip seem to be a more promising option. A more systematic approach to obtaining emissions data on the event's food and energy consumption may assist in selecting more climate-friendly accommodations and event venues to try to keep the event's emissions low.
International Environmental Agreements-politics Law and Economics, Dec 15, 2018
Recent scholarly work on the European Union (EU) in international environmental agreements has th... more Recent scholarly work on the European Union (EU) in international environmental agreements has thus far lacked a focus on explaining variation in EU performance/effectiveness in different negotiation processes within one agreement, especially when it comes to less prominent issue areas such as biodiversity. To fill that gap, this article seeks to explain the EU's effectiveness (goal achievement-GA) as a negotiator in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in three key negotiation processes: (1) the negotiations on the coming into being of the CBD (1990-1992); (2) the negotiations towards a Cartagena Protocol on biosafety (1995-2000); and (3) the negotiations towards a Nagoya Protocol on the access to and benefit-sharing of genetic resources (2004-2010). For each case, the article measures EU effectiveness/GA by comparing the EU's objectives for the international negotiations at the early stages of the process with the outcome of these negotiations. It tries to explain the degree of EU GA by considering EU diplomatic engagement and the EU's position in the constellation of all negotiating parties in terms of issue-specific bargaining power and interests. It highlights the EU's successful performance as a mediator and bridge builder in the negotiations on the Cartagena and Nagoya Protocols. This diplomatic engagement resulted in a high degree of EU GA as it was well adapted to the EU's position in the constellation of all negotiating parties in terms of bargaining power and interests. This article emphasises the need to adapt EU diplomatic engagement to this position to boost EU GA.
This article compares the degree to which the European Union (EU) managed to play a leadership ro... more This article compares the degree to which the European Union (EU) managed to play a leadership role at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Copenhagen negotiations in December 2009 and the Cancún negotiations in December 2010. Our notion of leadership is composed of (a) direction (i.e. the degree to which an actor pushes towards a recognised collective purpose), and (b) goal-attainment (which is explained by three factors: coherence, the opportunity structure, and politicisation). The outcomes of the Copenhagen negotiations have been rather disappointing for the EU in terms of its substantial ambitions and leadership expectations. At Cancún, the Union had a firmer hold on the outcomes, but its goals have also been less ambitious compared to the Copenhagen negotiations.
By bundling the manifold policy expertise of the researchers of the Institute for European Studie... more By bundling the manifold policy expertise of the researchers of the Institute for European Studies (IES), this paper forms part of a series of analyses investigating the potential implications of a ‘Brexit’ scenario for different EU policies. All papers ask the same three questions: 1) What is the state of the EU policy in focus? 2) What is the UK’s role/interest in this policy field? 3) What are the potential implications of a ‘Brexit’ scenario at the policy-level? After Claire Dupont and Florian Trauner introduce the project, Richard Lewis sets the historical and cultural context and explains how the UK and the EU have come to such a low-point in their relations. Next, five policy fields are analysed: justice and home affairs; free movement policies; EU external representation; the (digital) single market; and environmental policy.
Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 2020
This article assesses the evolving 'stringency' of multilateral climate mitigation governance tow... more This article assesses the evolving 'stringency' of multilateral climate mitigation governance towards the 2015 Paris Agreement. To do so, we systematically distinguish four key dimensions of hard/soft governance: (1) formal legal status; (2) the nature of the obligations (procedural-substantive); (3) prescriptiveness and precision; and (4) implementation review and response. We find that the governance approach of the Paris Agreement is significantly softer than the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, but harder than the 2010 Cancun Agreements under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. As a result, the Paris Agreement has had a differentiated effect on the stringency of governance. On the one side, it has softened climate governance for countries that are parties to the Kyoto Protocol, most notably the European Union. On the other side, it has hardened the international governance framework for developing countries and industrialised countries that are not subject to the Kyoto Protocol, including the US, Japan, Canada, and Russia. The shifting climate geopolitics of the twenty-first century helps us understand this development.
By bundling the manifold policy expertise of the researchers of the Institute for European Studie... more By bundling the manifold policy expertise of the researchers of the Institute for European Studies (IES), this paper forms part of a series of analyses investigating the potential implications of a ‘Brexit’ scenario for different EU policies. All papers ask the same three questions: 1) What is the state of the EU policy in focus? 2) What is the UK’s role/interest in this policy field? 3) What are the potential implications of a ‘Brexit’ scenario at the policy-level? After Claire Dupont and Florian Trauner introduce the project, Richard Lewis sets the historical and cultural context and explains how the UK and the EU have come to such a low-point in their relations. Next, five policy fields are analysed: justice and home affairs; free movement policies; EU external representation; the (digital) single market; and environmental policy.
Dominante frames verschuiven doorheen de tijd. Zo blijkt uit een analyse van de rol van wetenscha... more Dominante frames verschuiven doorheen de tijd. Zo blijkt uit een analyse van de rol van wetenschappelijke expertise in de ontwikkeling van het klimaatbeleid van de Europese Unie (EU). In de vroege jaren van beleidsontwikkeling was een wetenschappelijke framing van klimaatverandering cruciaal voor politieke besluitvorming. De invloed van het wetenschappelijke frame nam echter af naarmate de beleidscyclus vorderde. In dit artikel presenteren we drie redenen voor deze verandering: (1) de complexiteit van zowel klimaatverandering als het EU-beleidsvormingsproces, (2) het politieke gewicht van concurrerende beleidsframes en (3) de communicatie over het wetenschappelijke frame.
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