Keukeleire and Delreux demonstrate the scope and diversity of the European Union's foreign policy... more Keukeleire and Delreux demonstrate the scope and diversity of the European Union's foreign policy, showing that EU foreign policy is broader than the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy, and that areas such as trade, development, environment and energy are inextricable elements of it.
This book offers a comprehensive and critical account of the EU's key foreign relations – with its neighbourhood, with the US, China and Russia, and with emerged powers – and argues that the EU's foreign policy needs to be understood not only as a response to crises and conflicts, but also as a means of shaping international structures and influencing long-term processes.
This third edition reflects recent changes and trends in EU foreign policy as well as the international context in which it operates, addressing issues such as the increasingly contested international order, the conflict in Ukraine, the migration and refugee crisis, Brexit and Covid-19. The book not only clarifies the formal procedures in EU foreign policy-making but also elucidates how it works in practice. The third edition includes new sections and boxes on 'strategic autonomy', European arms exports, the EU's external representation, the 'Brussels Effect', and decentring and gender approaches to EU foreign policy.
Up to date, jargon-free and supported by its own website (eufp.eu), this systematic and innovative appraisal of this key policy area is suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as practitioners.
In recent decades, the European Union has developed one of the world's most stringent sets of env... more In recent decades, the European Union has developed one of the world's most stringent sets of environmental policies. These policies cover not only the traditional areas of environmental concern, such as fighting pollution and protecting natural resources, but also increasingly salient issues like GMOs and climate change, which affect day-to-day patterns of production and consumption. As with all areas of policy making within the EU, the creation of environmental policy relies on the co-operation of many political actors – EU institutions, national authorities and interest groups – all with widely differing agendas. Studying how the dynamics between these political actors result in specific environmental policies reveals much about the wider dynamics at play in the EU as a whole.
This important new text analyses the European Union's environmental policy, tracing how it has evolved to become today one of its largest fields of action. Using state-of-the-art analysis, it discusses in depth the relationship between policies and the political processes that shape them, and looks at how environmental policies are increasingly having a major impact on other policy fields, including energy, agriculture and transport. This book considers in detail the EU's policies in both traditional and 'new' environmental subdomains, including coverage of recent developments in terms of their content, approach and effectiveness. Throughout this clear and readable introduction to EU environmental policy, the authors emphasize the interdependence between what happens in the EU and at the global level. By establishing EU policies within the wider international context, they pay particular attention to the EU's role in global environmental governance, especially in relation to climate change.
This authoritative text gives a comprehensive account of the European Union’s foreign policy. Mov... more This authoritative text gives a comprehensive account of the European Union’s foreign policy. Moving beyond the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy, the authors demonstrate the scope and diversity of the EU’s foreign policy and show how areas such as trade, development, environment and energy are inextricable elements of it.
The book examines the EU’s key foreign relations – with its neighbourhood, with the US, China and Russia, and with the emerging powers – and argues that the EU’s foreign policy needs to be understood not only as a response to crises and conflicts, but also as a means of shaping international structures and influencing long-term processes. Setting its analysis in historical context, this second edition has been updated throughout to take account of contemporary developments following the Lisbon Treaty, and will continue to be an invaluable guide to understanding EU foreign policy.
Delreux examines how the EU functions when it participates in international environmental negotia... more Delreux examines how the EU functions when it participates in international environmental negotiations. In particular, this book looks at the internal EU decision-making process with regard to international negotiations that lead to multilateral environmental agreements. By studying eight such decision-making processes, the book analyses how much negotiation autonomy (or 'discretion') the EU negotiator (the European Commission or the Council Presidency) enjoys vis-à-vis the member states it represents and how this particular degree of discretion can be explained. The book's empirical evidence is based on extensive literature review, primary and semi-confidential document research, as well as interviews with EU decision-makers. It is aimed at a readership interested in EU politics and decision-making, global/multilateral governance, environmental policy science and methodological development of Qualitative Comparative Analysis.
International climate governance no longer takes place only in the UNFCCC but is spread across nu... more International climate governance no longer takes place only in the UNFCCC but is spread across numerous fora that collectively form the international regime complex on climate change. For climate leaders like the EU, the regime complex creates opportunities for strategic activity in its diplomacy across the different fora. This article examines how internal compartmentalisation affected the EU’s diplomacy across the international regime complex on climate change in the negotiation of four climate agreements: the Paris Agreement (UNFCCC), CORSIA (ICAO), the Kigali Amendment (Montreal Protocol), and the Initial Strategy (IMO). It finds that internal compartmentalisation indeed hinders the EU’s pursuit of a comprehensive climate diplomacy, making the regime complex a missed opportunity for the EU. Various combinations of a lack of communication channels, different priorities and policy framings, and a lack of resources and expertise contributed to situations where the EU was limited in using the regime complex.
Relatively little is known about the precise activities of the European External Action Service (... more Relatively little is known about the precise activities of the European External Action Service (EEAS) headquarters in the European Union's (EU's) international climate diplomacy, especially since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015. This article therefore sketches the evolution of the climate diplomacy activities undertaken by EEAS headquarters between the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in 2015 and COP26 in 2021. Based on a triangulation of official documents and twenty semi-structured interviews, the article finds that although the EEAS headquarters continues to coordinate and mainstream EU climate diplomacy, it has also become more outwardly-involved and entrepreneurial. This entrepreneurship can be explained by the creation within the EEAS of an Ambassador at Large for Climate Diplomacy, the working style of the appointed ambassador, increased resources at EEAS headquarters dedicated to climate diplomacy, and a favourable institutional context within the EU. These findings provide a detailed and updated insight into the involvement of EEAS headquarters within EU climate diplomacy. Accordingly, they improve our understanding of the EU as a climate actor and also demonstrate the importance of individuals in shaping how the EU conducts its climate diplomacy.
Global governance in many domains is increasingly characterised by the existence of international... more Global governance in many domains is increasingly characterised by the existence of international regime complexesi.e., sets of overlapping institutional fora taking up different aspects of a broader issue area. As an international actor, the EU faces a context of such international regime complexity. Yet, little is known about how the EU navigates international regime complexes and how regime complexes impact the EU's behaviour in individual fora. This thematic issue, therefore, seeks to improve our understanding of how different manifestations of international regime complexes affect the EU as an international actor and to provide empirical insight into the ways actors like the EU navigate international regime complexes. In this editorial, we situate the thematic issue within the broader academic debates on the EU's role in international regime complexity, argue for the need to study the EU as an actor therein, and provide an overview of the thematic issue's objectives and the nine articles that comprise it.
The EU participates in many international fora related to climate change (for example UNFCCC, G20... more The EU participates in many international fora related to climate change (for example UNFCCC, G20, Montreal Protocol), which collectively constitute the international regime complex on climate change (IRCCC). Using the case study of negotiations on the Paris Agreement, this paper addresses the question How and why did the EU use the different fora of the IRCCC to achieve its objectives in the Paris Agreement negotiations? It finds that the EU used the IRCCC in four main ways: employing typical multilateral negotiating activities, overcoming specific issues of the Paris Agreement negotiations, creating political momentum, and ensuring cross-fora coordination. These uses correspond with the level of political authority of participants and the level of climate-specialization in a given forum.
In April 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) reached agreement on its Initial Str... more In April 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) reached agreement on its Initial Strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping. The Initial Strategy was a success for the EU, as it achieved its long-term objective of reaching an international agreement on greening shipping. However, several factors call into question whether the "success" was the result of the role played by the EU. Using process-tracing, we provide insight into the factors and the mechanism that led the EU to achieve its objective with the Initial Strategy. The article finds that the EU's goal achievement was the result of a mechanism triggered by (1) its overarching objective for action in the IMO on emissions in international shipping; (2) an entrepreneurial coalition partner; and (3) mounting momentum for action in the IMO. While the EU, including through its member states, played an important role in the negotiations, it only did so relatively late in the process, building on the successful work of the Shipping High Ambition Coalition. Based on this case study, we note implications not only for the proposed aspects of the European Green Deal related to greenhouse gas emissions from shipping, but also our understanding of the EU as an international (climate) actor.
This paper compares how European and non-European participants in international environmental neg... more This paper compares how European and non-European participants in international environmental negotiations perceive the EU's role in such negotiations. Three dimensions of the EU's role (environmental ambition, diplomatic activity and influence) are assessed in three UN-wide environmental forums (the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions on chemicals, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the United Nations Environment Assembly). The paper presents original data collected through an online survey with 659 delegates who participated in the negotiations in the three forums in the period 2018-19. Comparing the ego perception of delegates from the EU with the alter view of delegates from non-EU countries, the paper finds that the ego and alter perceptions of the EU's ambition, diplomatic activities and influence are largely similar. Both ego and alter see the EU as a highly ambitious, active and influential actor in global environmental negotiations.
How ambitious, active and influential are countries and regional groups in global environmental n... more How ambitious, active and influential are countries and regional groups in global environmental negotiations? We construct eight ideal types of their roles based on ambition, activity and influence. We then examine how the roles of countries and regional groups are perceived by participants in these negotiations through a large-scale online survey. The European Union, Norway and the African Group are perceived as the most prominent reformist leaders, being highly ambitious, active and influential. On the contrary, India, the Russian Federation and many regional groups are mostly perceived as conservative bystanders, with low levels of ambition, activity and influence.
This article traces the origins of European legislation during the legislative policy-making proc... more This article traces the origins of European legislation during the legislative policy-making process. It identifies three phases where parts of the text of legislative acts can be developed: (1) agenda-setting; (2) intra-institutional decision-making and (3) interinstitutional negotiations, depending on whether the content of the legislation originates respectively in the Commission proposal, the co-legislators' positions or trilogue negotiations. Using a newly developed text-mining technique which computes in which phase each word of a legislative act originally appears, the article examines the relative importance of each phase and explores how it is affected by interinstitutional conflict. Applying this method to 219 legislative acts adopted between 2012 and 2018, it finds that most EU legislation originates in the agenda-setting phase, and that the new content developed during trilogue negotiations is limited. However, the importance of the agenda-setting phase decreases in cases with high levels of interinstitutional conflict.
Environmental Policy in the EU. Actors, Institutions and Processes. Fourth edition, 2021
This chapter analyses the participation and contribution of the EU to international environmental... more This chapter analyses the participation and contribution of the EU to international environmental negotiations. It gives an overview of the EU’s status as a partner in these negotiations and as a party to multilateral environmental agreements. In order to grasp how the EU acts as an negotiator at the international level, it is important to understand the internal division of legal competences, the external representation arrangement and the internal coordination process in the EU. This chapter also reviews the role of the EU in international environmental negotiations, the impact that the EU can have on their outcomes and the future challenges confronting the EU as it seeks to exert greater international leadership.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of European Union Politics, 2019
Principal-agent analyses have been frequently applied by scholars of the European Union (EU). The... more Principal-agent analyses have been frequently applied by scholars of the European Union (EU). The model helps to explain the reasons, modalities, and consequences of the delegation of authority from one (set of) actor(s)-the principal-to another (set of) actor(s)-the agent. Instances of delegation are omnipresent in the EU: not only is the EU founded upon the delegation of rule-making powers from the member states to the supranational level (European integration), but delegation is also frequently occurring from one actor or institution to another within the political system of the EU (EU decision-making). Assuming that institutions are forums for strategic behavior by rational actors, the principal-agent model has advanced our understanding of European integration and EU politics by zooming in on contractual, dyadic relationships that are characterized by an act of delegation and the controls established to minimize the risks related to delegation. Principal-agent analyses can be used to address two types of questions: first, on why and how the principal delegates authority to the agent (i.e., the "politics of delegation"), and second, on the ensuing game between the principal and the agent when the latter executes the delegated task on behalf of the former (i.e., the "politics of discretion," or "post-delegation politics").
Climate change is a central topic of concern for EU international diplomacy and is the site of in... more Climate change is a central topic of concern for EU international diplomacy and is the site of increased politicization globally. Concomitantly, a parallel process of parliamentarization of the EU has unfolded. Whilst the European Parliament (EP) has enjoyed significant powers in internal policy-making on climate change, since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009 the EP has gained the right to veto the EU's ratification of international (climate change) agreements. This development raises questions about our understanding of the EP as an actor in international climate diplomacy that this article addresses through the following research question: What impact have the increased powers of the EP had on its involvement in UN climate diplomacy? We analyze the EP's evolving role in international climate diplomacy through an evaluation of its policy preferences prior to international climate conferences (COPs) and its activities during those meetings. We find evidence that the EP's preferences have become more moderate over time, and that it is also more active at COPs and increasingly engaged with a range of more important actors. However, we find little evidence that the EP's involvement in international negotiations is significantly different when it holds a veto power, which we attribute to a willingness to depoliticize internal EU climate negotiations to secure policy gains at the international level.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of European Union Politics, 2019
The fight against climate change has become a major area of action for the European Union (EU), b... more The fight against climate change has become a major area of action for the European Union (EU), both at the European and the international level. EU climate policy has gained importance since the 1990s and is today the most politicized issue on the EU's environmental agenda. The EU is often considered a frontrunner-even a leader-in the adoption of climate policies internally and the promotion of such policies externally. Internally, the EU has developed the world's most advanced and comprehensive regulatory frameworks, encompassing both EU-wide policies and targets to be achieved by the member states. The actual EU policy instruments fall into two categories: whereas emissions in certain industrial sectors are reduced through a carbon market and a "cap-and-trade" system (the Emissions Trading Scheme), emissions from nonETS sectors are addressed through domestic policies by member states. These measures have led to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU, but they will not suffice to achieve the EU's long-term goals, which requires a major overhaul of some of the basic premises of the EU's policies in sectors such as energy production and consumption, transport, agriculture, and industry. Externally, the EU has been advocating ambitious and legally binding international climate agreements. Desiring to "lead by example", the EU has been an influential global climate player at important international climate
In the 20 years after its introduction, the principal-agent model has seen increasing use to stud... more In the 20 years after its introduction, the principal-agent model has seen increasing use to study political processes in virtually all policy domains in which the EU is active. Relaxing the strict assumptions that guided the original economic applications has greatly widened the scope for potential applications. This very phenomenon has also created an existential challenge to the model's contemporary use, which is combining the reductionist aims of the model (from which it derives its strength) with the complex empirical settings to which it is increasingly applied. To facilitate this balancing exercise, we propose a two-step approach to principal-agent analysis, in which the mapping of the principal-agent proof relation is separated from the effective analysis that examines the reasons, modalities and consequences of delegation and control in the EU. In doing so, we show how the principal-agent model can continue to provide new insights at the various stages of the research process.
This article presents a newly developed 'deviation index' to measure, in a quantitative and stand... more This article presents a newly developed 'deviation index' to measure, in a quantitative and standardized way, the extent to which the negotiators in trilogues (the rapporteur and the rotating Presidency) deviate from the instructions of the institutions they represent (respectively, the EP and the Council). Based on text-mining techniques, the index is applied to the entire set of trilogue decision-making processes in the 2012–2016 period (N = 111). The article then presents three examples of how the index can generate new insights about legislative policy-making in the EU. These empirical applications show that agents deviate more than minimally required to reach an inter-institutional compromise; that rapporteurs deviate in general more than Presidencies do; and that deviation is not affected by the support for the mandate or by the size of the agent.
The chapter evaluates and explains the effectiveness of the external action of the EU on forests.... more The chapter evaluates and explains the effectiveness of the external action of the EU on forests. Despite its lack of competence on forests, the EU seeks to promote sustainable forest management through various policies and measures. Some are explicitly focused on forests, such as the EU’s participation in the United Nations Forum on Forests, while others rely on related fields to achieve sustainable forest management, such as the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreements. The various external forest policies of the EU are characterised by varying levels of effectiveness. Despite the EU’s effort to create synergies and complementarities between them, different objectives are not always reconciled and EU external forest policies remain incoherent.
This chapter examines the EU’s overall support for multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) a... more This chapter examines the EU’s overall support for multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) as a key instrument of global environmental governance. It discusses how the EU participates in international negotiation processes in the context of MEAs by investigating the formal provisions as well as the informal practices. This is illustrated with a case study on the EU’s participation in the negotiation of the Paris Agreement on climate change. Finally, the chapter analyses the EU’s effectiveness by assessing and explaining the extent to which the EU is actually able to impact upon MEA negotiations.
Keukeleire and Delreux demonstrate the scope and diversity of the European Union's foreign policy... more Keukeleire and Delreux demonstrate the scope and diversity of the European Union's foreign policy, showing that EU foreign policy is broader than the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy, and that areas such as trade, development, environment and energy are inextricable elements of it.
This book offers a comprehensive and critical account of the EU's key foreign relations – with its neighbourhood, with the US, China and Russia, and with emerged powers – and argues that the EU's foreign policy needs to be understood not only as a response to crises and conflicts, but also as a means of shaping international structures and influencing long-term processes.
This third edition reflects recent changes and trends in EU foreign policy as well as the international context in which it operates, addressing issues such as the increasingly contested international order, the conflict in Ukraine, the migration and refugee crisis, Brexit and Covid-19. The book not only clarifies the formal procedures in EU foreign policy-making but also elucidates how it works in practice. The third edition includes new sections and boxes on 'strategic autonomy', European arms exports, the EU's external representation, the 'Brussels Effect', and decentring and gender approaches to EU foreign policy.
Up to date, jargon-free and supported by its own website (eufp.eu), this systematic and innovative appraisal of this key policy area is suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as practitioners.
In recent decades, the European Union has developed one of the world's most stringent sets of env... more In recent decades, the European Union has developed one of the world's most stringent sets of environmental policies. These policies cover not only the traditional areas of environmental concern, such as fighting pollution and protecting natural resources, but also increasingly salient issues like GMOs and climate change, which affect day-to-day patterns of production and consumption. As with all areas of policy making within the EU, the creation of environmental policy relies on the co-operation of many political actors – EU institutions, national authorities and interest groups – all with widely differing agendas. Studying how the dynamics between these political actors result in specific environmental policies reveals much about the wider dynamics at play in the EU as a whole.
This important new text analyses the European Union's environmental policy, tracing how it has evolved to become today one of its largest fields of action. Using state-of-the-art analysis, it discusses in depth the relationship between policies and the political processes that shape them, and looks at how environmental policies are increasingly having a major impact on other policy fields, including energy, agriculture and transport. This book considers in detail the EU's policies in both traditional and 'new' environmental subdomains, including coverage of recent developments in terms of their content, approach and effectiveness. Throughout this clear and readable introduction to EU environmental policy, the authors emphasize the interdependence between what happens in the EU and at the global level. By establishing EU policies within the wider international context, they pay particular attention to the EU's role in global environmental governance, especially in relation to climate change.
This authoritative text gives a comprehensive account of the European Union’s foreign policy. Mov... more This authoritative text gives a comprehensive account of the European Union’s foreign policy. Moving beyond the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy, the authors demonstrate the scope and diversity of the EU’s foreign policy and show how areas such as trade, development, environment and energy are inextricable elements of it.
The book examines the EU’s key foreign relations – with its neighbourhood, with the US, China and Russia, and with the emerging powers – and argues that the EU’s foreign policy needs to be understood not only as a response to crises and conflicts, but also as a means of shaping international structures and influencing long-term processes. Setting its analysis in historical context, this second edition has been updated throughout to take account of contemporary developments following the Lisbon Treaty, and will continue to be an invaluable guide to understanding EU foreign policy.
Delreux examines how the EU functions when it participates in international environmental negotia... more Delreux examines how the EU functions when it participates in international environmental negotiations. In particular, this book looks at the internal EU decision-making process with regard to international negotiations that lead to multilateral environmental agreements. By studying eight such decision-making processes, the book analyses how much negotiation autonomy (or 'discretion') the EU negotiator (the European Commission or the Council Presidency) enjoys vis-à-vis the member states it represents and how this particular degree of discretion can be explained. The book's empirical evidence is based on extensive literature review, primary and semi-confidential document research, as well as interviews with EU decision-makers. It is aimed at a readership interested in EU politics and decision-making, global/multilateral governance, environmental policy science and methodological development of Qualitative Comparative Analysis.
International climate governance no longer takes place only in the UNFCCC but is spread across nu... more International climate governance no longer takes place only in the UNFCCC but is spread across numerous fora that collectively form the international regime complex on climate change. For climate leaders like the EU, the regime complex creates opportunities for strategic activity in its diplomacy across the different fora. This article examines how internal compartmentalisation affected the EU’s diplomacy across the international regime complex on climate change in the negotiation of four climate agreements: the Paris Agreement (UNFCCC), CORSIA (ICAO), the Kigali Amendment (Montreal Protocol), and the Initial Strategy (IMO). It finds that internal compartmentalisation indeed hinders the EU’s pursuit of a comprehensive climate diplomacy, making the regime complex a missed opportunity for the EU. Various combinations of a lack of communication channels, different priorities and policy framings, and a lack of resources and expertise contributed to situations where the EU was limited in using the regime complex.
Relatively little is known about the precise activities of the European External Action Service (... more Relatively little is known about the precise activities of the European External Action Service (EEAS) headquarters in the European Union's (EU's) international climate diplomacy, especially since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015. This article therefore sketches the evolution of the climate diplomacy activities undertaken by EEAS headquarters between the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in 2015 and COP26 in 2021. Based on a triangulation of official documents and twenty semi-structured interviews, the article finds that although the EEAS headquarters continues to coordinate and mainstream EU climate diplomacy, it has also become more outwardly-involved and entrepreneurial. This entrepreneurship can be explained by the creation within the EEAS of an Ambassador at Large for Climate Diplomacy, the working style of the appointed ambassador, increased resources at EEAS headquarters dedicated to climate diplomacy, and a favourable institutional context within the EU. These findings provide a detailed and updated insight into the involvement of EEAS headquarters within EU climate diplomacy. Accordingly, they improve our understanding of the EU as a climate actor and also demonstrate the importance of individuals in shaping how the EU conducts its climate diplomacy.
Global governance in many domains is increasingly characterised by the existence of international... more Global governance in many domains is increasingly characterised by the existence of international regime complexesi.e., sets of overlapping institutional fora taking up different aspects of a broader issue area. As an international actor, the EU faces a context of such international regime complexity. Yet, little is known about how the EU navigates international regime complexes and how regime complexes impact the EU's behaviour in individual fora. This thematic issue, therefore, seeks to improve our understanding of how different manifestations of international regime complexes affect the EU as an international actor and to provide empirical insight into the ways actors like the EU navigate international regime complexes. In this editorial, we situate the thematic issue within the broader academic debates on the EU's role in international regime complexity, argue for the need to study the EU as an actor therein, and provide an overview of the thematic issue's objectives and the nine articles that comprise it.
The EU participates in many international fora related to climate change (for example UNFCCC, G20... more The EU participates in many international fora related to climate change (for example UNFCCC, G20, Montreal Protocol), which collectively constitute the international regime complex on climate change (IRCCC). Using the case study of negotiations on the Paris Agreement, this paper addresses the question How and why did the EU use the different fora of the IRCCC to achieve its objectives in the Paris Agreement negotiations? It finds that the EU used the IRCCC in four main ways: employing typical multilateral negotiating activities, overcoming specific issues of the Paris Agreement negotiations, creating political momentum, and ensuring cross-fora coordination. These uses correspond with the level of political authority of participants and the level of climate-specialization in a given forum.
In April 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) reached agreement on its Initial Str... more In April 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) reached agreement on its Initial Strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping. The Initial Strategy was a success for the EU, as it achieved its long-term objective of reaching an international agreement on greening shipping. However, several factors call into question whether the "success" was the result of the role played by the EU. Using process-tracing, we provide insight into the factors and the mechanism that led the EU to achieve its objective with the Initial Strategy. The article finds that the EU's goal achievement was the result of a mechanism triggered by (1) its overarching objective for action in the IMO on emissions in international shipping; (2) an entrepreneurial coalition partner; and (3) mounting momentum for action in the IMO. While the EU, including through its member states, played an important role in the negotiations, it only did so relatively late in the process, building on the successful work of the Shipping High Ambition Coalition. Based on this case study, we note implications not only for the proposed aspects of the European Green Deal related to greenhouse gas emissions from shipping, but also our understanding of the EU as an international (climate) actor.
This paper compares how European and non-European participants in international environmental neg... more This paper compares how European and non-European participants in international environmental negotiations perceive the EU's role in such negotiations. Three dimensions of the EU's role (environmental ambition, diplomatic activity and influence) are assessed in three UN-wide environmental forums (the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions on chemicals, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the United Nations Environment Assembly). The paper presents original data collected through an online survey with 659 delegates who participated in the negotiations in the three forums in the period 2018-19. Comparing the ego perception of delegates from the EU with the alter view of delegates from non-EU countries, the paper finds that the ego and alter perceptions of the EU's ambition, diplomatic activities and influence are largely similar. Both ego and alter see the EU as a highly ambitious, active and influential actor in global environmental negotiations.
How ambitious, active and influential are countries and regional groups in global environmental n... more How ambitious, active and influential are countries and regional groups in global environmental negotiations? We construct eight ideal types of their roles based on ambition, activity and influence. We then examine how the roles of countries and regional groups are perceived by participants in these negotiations through a large-scale online survey. The European Union, Norway and the African Group are perceived as the most prominent reformist leaders, being highly ambitious, active and influential. On the contrary, India, the Russian Federation and many regional groups are mostly perceived as conservative bystanders, with low levels of ambition, activity and influence.
This article traces the origins of European legislation during the legislative policy-making proc... more This article traces the origins of European legislation during the legislative policy-making process. It identifies three phases where parts of the text of legislative acts can be developed: (1) agenda-setting; (2) intra-institutional decision-making and (3) interinstitutional negotiations, depending on whether the content of the legislation originates respectively in the Commission proposal, the co-legislators' positions or trilogue negotiations. Using a newly developed text-mining technique which computes in which phase each word of a legislative act originally appears, the article examines the relative importance of each phase and explores how it is affected by interinstitutional conflict. Applying this method to 219 legislative acts adopted between 2012 and 2018, it finds that most EU legislation originates in the agenda-setting phase, and that the new content developed during trilogue negotiations is limited. However, the importance of the agenda-setting phase decreases in cases with high levels of interinstitutional conflict.
Environmental Policy in the EU. Actors, Institutions and Processes. Fourth edition, 2021
This chapter analyses the participation and contribution of the EU to international environmental... more This chapter analyses the participation and contribution of the EU to international environmental negotiations. It gives an overview of the EU’s status as a partner in these negotiations and as a party to multilateral environmental agreements. In order to grasp how the EU acts as an negotiator at the international level, it is important to understand the internal division of legal competences, the external representation arrangement and the internal coordination process in the EU. This chapter also reviews the role of the EU in international environmental negotiations, the impact that the EU can have on their outcomes and the future challenges confronting the EU as it seeks to exert greater international leadership.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of European Union Politics, 2019
Principal-agent analyses have been frequently applied by scholars of the European Union (EU). The... more Principal-agent analyses have been frequently applied by scholars of the European Union (EU). The model helps to explain the reasons, modalities, and consequences of the delegation of authority from one (set of) actor(s)-the principal-to another (set of) actor(s)-the agent. Instances of delegation are omnipresent in the EU: not only is the EU founded upon the delegation of rule-making powers from the member states to the supranational level (European integration), but delegation is also frequently occurring from one actor or institution to another within the political system of the EU (EU decision-making). Assuming that institutions are forums for strategic behavior by rational actors, the principal-agent model has advanced our understanding of European integration and EU politics by zooming in on contractual, dyadic relationships that are characterized by an act of delegation and the controls established to minimize the risks related to delegation. Principal-agent analyses can be used to address two types of questions: first, on why and how the principal delegates authority to the agent (i.e., the "politics of delegation"), and second, on the ensuing game between the principal and the agent when the latter executes the delegated task on behalf of the former (i.e., the "politics of discretion," or "post-delegation politics").
Climate change is a central topic of concern for EU international diplomacy and is the site of in... more Climate change is a central topic of concern for EU international diplomacy and is the site of increased politicization globally. Concomitantly, a parallel process of parliamentarization of the EU has unfolded. Whilst the European Parliament (EP) has enjoyed significant powers in internal policy-making on climate change, since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009 the EP has gained the right to veto the EU's ratification of international (climate change) agreements. This development raises questions about our understanding of the EP as an actor in international climate diplomacy that this article addresses through the following research question: What impact have the increased powers of the EP had on its involvement in UN climate diplomacy? We analyze the EP's evolving role in international climate diplomacy through an evaluation of its policy preferences prior to international climate conferences (COPs) and its activities during those meetings. We find evidence that the EP's preferences have become more moderate over time, and that it is also more active at COPs and increasingly engaged with a range of more important actors. However, we find little evidence that the EP's involvement in international negotiations is significantly different when it holds a veto power, which we attribute to a willingness to depoliticize internal EU climate negotiations to secure policy gains at the international level.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of European Union Politics, 2019
The fight against climate change has become a major area of action for the European Union (EU), b... more The fight against climate change has become a major area of action for the European Union (EU), both at the European and the international level. EU climate policy has gained importance since the 1990s and is today the most politicized issue on the EU's environmental agenda. The EU is often considered a frontrunner-even a leader-in the adoption of climate policies internally and the promotion of such policies externally. Internally, the EU has developed the world's most advanced and comprehensive regulatory frameworks, encompassing both EU-wide policies and targets to be achieved by the member states. The actual EU policy instruments fall into two categories: whereas emissions in certain industrial sectors are reduced through a carbon market and a "cap-and-trade" system (the Emissions Trading Scheme), emissions from nonETS sectors are addressed through domestic policies by member states. These measures have led to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU, but they will not suffice to achieve the EU's long-term goals, which requires a major overhaul of some of the basic premises of the EU's policies in sectors such as energy production and consumption, transport, agriculture, and industry. Externally, the EU has been advocating ambitious and legally binding international climate agreements. Desiring to "lead by example", the EU has been an influential global climate player at important international climate
In the 20 years after its introduction, the principal-agent model has seen increasing use to stud... more In the 20 years after its introduction, the principal-agent model has seen increasing use to study political processes in virtually all policy domains in which the EU is active. Relaxing the strict assumptions that guided the original economic applications has greatly widened the scope for potential applications. This very phenomenon has also created an existential challenge to the model's contemporary use, which is combining the reductionist aims of the model (from which it derives its strength) with the complex empirical settings to which it is increasingly applied. To facilitate this balancing exercise, we propose a two-step approach to principal-agent analysis, in which the mapping of the principal-agent proof relation is separated from the effective analysis that examines the reasons, modalities and consequences of delegation and control in the EU. In doing so, we show how the principal-agent model can continue to provide new insights at the various stages of the research process.
This article presents a newly developed 'deviation index' to measure, in a quantitative and stand... more This article presents a newly developed 'deviation index' to measure, in a quantitative and standardized way, the extent to which the negotiators in trilogues (the rapporteur and the rotating Presidency) deviate from the instructions of the institutions they represent (respectively, the EP and the Council). Based on text-mining techniques, the index is applied to the entire set of trilogue decision-making processes in the 2012–2016 period (N = 111). The article then presents three examples of how the index can generate new insights about legislative policy-making in the EU. These empirical applications show that agents deviate more than minimally required to reach an inter-institutional compromise; that rapporteurs deviate in general more than Presidencies do; and that deviation is not affected by the support for the mandate or by the size of the agent.
The chapter evaluates and explains the effectiveness of the external action of the EU on forests.... more The chapter evaluates and explains the effectiveness of the external action of the EU on forests. Despite its lack of competence on forests, the EU seeks to promote sustainable forest management through various policies and measures. Some are explicitly focused on forests, such as the EU’s participation in the United Nations Forum on Forests, while others rely on related fields to achieve sustainable forest management, such as the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreements. The various external forest policies of the EU are characterised by varying levels of effectiveness. Despite the EU’s effort to create synergies and complementarities between them, different objectives are not always reconciled and EU external forest policies remain incoherent.
This chapter examines the EU’s overall support for multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) a... more This chapter examines the EU’s overall support for multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) as a key instrument of global environmental governance. It discusses how the EU participates in international negotiation processes in the context of MEAs by investigating the formal provisions as well as the informal practices. This is illustrated with a case study on the EU’s participation in the negotiation of the Paris Agreement on climate change. Finally, the chapter analyses the EU’s effectiveness by assessing and explaining the extent to which the EU is actually able to impact upon MEA negotiations.
Applying a principal-agent perspective on trilogue negotiations, this article examines how the ra... more Applying a principal-agent perspective on trilogue negotiations, this article examines how the rapporteur and the Presidency, as agents of respectively the European Parliament and the Council, are able to reach a deal with their fellow agent while avoiding an involuntary defection among their principals. Despite these intra-and inter-institutional constraints, early agreements can be concluded because agents execute two parallel tasks on behalf of their principals: representing them inter-institutionally and acting as the deal-facilitator intra-institutionally. We identify three ways in which the agents can combine these two acts of delegation and conclude an early agreement: (1) creating a tied-hand situation for themselves; (2) affecting the intra-institutional coalition formation by bringing in allies from the other institution; and (3) actively searching for signals from the principals and the fellow agent on the zone of possible agreement. We illustrate these dynamics through a case study of the policy-making process on the 2015 Decision on the Market Stability Reserve.
On many issues in European Union (EU) foreign policy-making, political steering and operational a... more On many issues in European Union (EU) foreign policy-making, political steering and operational action are provided by an informal, self-selected group of actors. Although this informal division of labour is an important phenomenon, it has largely escaped the radar of EU foreign policy scholars. This article aims to fill that gap. Applying an inductive approach, it presents empirical observations from the fields of crisis management and external climate policy, illustrating the occurrence of informal division of labour. It subsequently provides an analytical framework to map the key dimensions of its different manifestations: the enabling factors, starting point, subject, institutional embeddedness, exclusiveness and durability of informal division of labour. Four possible effects on EU foreign policy-making are then discussed: an increased internal and external effectiveness; and a strengthened internal and external legitimacy. The article concludes by presenting suggestions for further empirical research on this phenomenon, as well as for theorizing it.
This article examines why and how agents weaken the incentives to control of their principals whe... more This article examines why and how agents weaken the incentives to control of their principals when the EU negotiates international agreements. Based on analyses of various EU decision-making processes on international trade and environmental agreements, this article argues that the EU negotiator-as-agent has a number of tools to affect the cost-benefit analysis on the basis of which the member states-as-principals decide on the activation of their control mechanisms. In order to avoid that the member states reject the international agreement reached by the EU negotiator (the Commission and/or the Presidency), the latter needs to reduce the range of behavioural options of the former. Three strategic paths are available to the agent to weaken its principals' control incentives: (a) calibrating the member states' involvement in the international negotiations, (b) being the first mover in determining its own instructions, and (c) exploiting the inconclusiveness among the member states.
Originally a mere side-product of economic integration in the first decades of European integrati... more Originally a mere side-product of economic integration in the first decades of European integration, European Union (EU) environmental and climate policy has evolved towards a comprehensive and dense regulatory framework. A complex set of rules, standards and procedures to protect the environment is in force in all major subfields of environmental policy, including water and air pollution, nature conservation, chemicals and the fight against climate change. Moreover, in environmental and climate policy, the EU prides itself on being an international leader.
The chapter evaluates the European Union’s (EU’s) performance in the United Nations Forum on Fore... more The chapter evaluates the European Union’s (EU’s) performance in the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) through a case study of the EU at the 11th session of the UNFF (2015). The EU managed to develop a common position in a consensual way (output performance), as a result of which it negotiated as a unitary actor (outcome performance). The EU’s power of the purse as well as its expertise, knowledge and experience on forest issues increased its bargaining power, and the EU achieved most of its predefined objectives (impact performance). This relatively high level of goal achievement is then explained by analysing the internal preference distribution in the EU, the way the EU overcomes the lack of forest competence and its positioning in the international negotiation context.
The Palgrave Handbook of National Parliaments and the European Union offers a comprehensive pictu... more The Palgrave Handbook of National Parliaments and the European Union offers a comprehensive picture of the European activities of national parliaments in all the 28 member states of the EU. In the aftermath of the Lisbon Treaty, it questions whether national legislatures do matter in European governance. With contributions from both academics and practitioners, this volume integrates the latest constitutional and legal developments as well as the consequences of the economic crisis in every country in the EU. Special emphasis is also placed on the actual parliamentary practices relating to European affairs. In addition, the volume includes some cross-sectional entries on key issues such as parliamentary administration and inter-parliamentary cooperation. By covering a large number of aspects and cases, this collection provides a unique source for assessing the degree of actual parliamentary and democratic control of the European governance at the domestic level.
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Books by Tom Delreux
This book offers a comprehensive and critical account of the EU's key foreign relations – with its neighbourhood, with the US, China and Russia, and with emerged powers – and argues that the EU's foreign policy needs to be understood not only as a response to crises and conflicts, but also as a means of shaping international structures and influencing long-term processes.
This third edition reflects recent changes and trends in EU foreign policy as well as the international context in which it operates, addressing issues such as the increasingly contested international order, the conflict in Ukraine, the migration and refugee crisis, Brexit and Covid-19. The book not only clarifies the formal procedures in EU foreign policy-making but also elucidates how it works in practice. The third edition includes new sections and boxes on 'strategic autonomy', European arms exports, the EU's external representation, the 'Brussels Effect', and decentring and gender approaches to EU foreign policy.
Up to date, jargon-free and supported by its own website (eufp.eu), this systematic and innovative appraisal of this key policy area is suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as practitioners.
This important new text analyses the European Union's environmental policy, tracing how it has evolved to become today one of its largest fields of action. Using state-of-the-art analysis, it discusses in depth the relationship between policies and the political processes that shape them, and looks at how environmental policies are increasingly having a major impact on other policy fields, including energy, agriculture and transport. This book considers in detail the EU's policies in both traditional and 'new' environmental subdomains, including coverage of recent developments in terms of their content, approach and effectiveness. Throughout this clear and readable introduction to EU environmental policy, the authors emphasize the interdependence between what happens in the EU and at the global level. By establishing EU policies within the wider international context, they pay particular attention to the EU's role in global environmental governance, especially in relation to climate change.
The book examines the EU’s key foreign relations – with its neighbourhood, with the US, China and Russia, and with the emerging powers – and argues that the EU’s foreign policy needs to be understood not only as a response to crises and conflicts, but also as a means of shaping international structures and influencing long-term processes. Setting its analysis in historical context, this second edition has been updated throughout to take account of contemporary developments following the Lisbon Treaty, and will continue to be an invaluable guide to understanding EU foreign policy.
Papers by Tom Delreux
This book offers a comprehensive and critical account of the EU's key foreign relations – with its neighbourhood, with the US, China and Russia, and with emerged powers – and argues that the EU's foreign policy needs to be understood not only as a response to crises and conflicts, but also as a means of shaping international structures and influencing long-term processes.
This third edition reflects recent changes and trends in EU foreign policy as well as the international context in which it operates, addressing issues such as the increasingly contested international order, the conflict in Ukraine, the migration and refugee crisis, Brexit and Covid-19. The book not only clarifies the formal procedures in EU foreign policy-making but also elucidates how it works in practice. The third edition includes new sections and boxes on 'strategic autonomy', European arms exports, the EU's external representation, the 'Brussels Effect', and decentring and gender approaches to EU foreign policy.
Up to date, jargon-free and supported by its own website (eufp.eu), this systematic and innovative appraisal of this key policy area is suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as practitioners.
This important new text analyses the European Union's environmental policy, tracing how it has evolved to become today one of its largest fields of action. Using state-of-the-art analysis, it discusses in depth the relationship between policies and the political processes that shape them, and looks at how environmental policies are increasingly having a major impact on other policy fields, including energy, agriculture and transport. This book considers in detail the EU's policies in both traditional and 'new' environmental subdomains, including coverage of recent developments in terms of their content, approach and effectiveness. Throughout this clear and readable introduction to EU environmental policy, the authors emphasize the interdependence between what happens in the EU and at the global level. By establishing EU policies within the wider international context, they pay particular attention to the EU's role in global environmental governance, especially in relation to climate change.
The book examines the EU’s key foreign relations – with its neighbourhood, with the US, China and Russia, and with the emerging powers – and argues that the EU’s foreign policy needs to be understood not only as a response to crises and conflicts, but also as a means of shaping international structures and influencing long-term processes. Setting its analysis in historical context, this second edition has been updated throughout to take account of contemporary developments following the Lisbon Treaty, and will continue to be an invaluable guide to understanding EU foreign policy.