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European Union's Role In Climate Change

Reasons for Domestic Compliance (Catherine Hwang)
Capacity for Domestic Compliance (LIzbeth Buriel)
Pressures for Domestic Compliance (Almira Sugatan)
State Contribution to Compliance and Effectiveness (Catherine Hwang)
Likely Future Developments (Lizbeth Buriel)
Citations (Almira Sugatan)

Reasons for Domestic Compliance

European Union has been at the forefront of international climate change efforts, which would call for a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.  The specific limits vary from country to country, but each of the 15 member states has been given its own specific target.  There is a general interest in this subject matter amongst European Union member states because the average land surface temperature has risen approximately 1.0° F, and the ten warmest years of the 20th century all occurred within the last fifteen years of the century.  Rising temperatures will have enormous impacts on the Earth in the future and some estimates are that by the year 2100, the Earth's land temperature will increase 2.0° F to 7.0° F.  It is many scientists' speculation that human activities may possibly be leading to an increase in global average temperatures.  As the global average temperature rises, many are concerned about the rising sea levels that would effect certain costal communities, increase floods and droughts, surge in infectious diseases, and alter crop yields and water supplies.  These are all due to an increasing number of atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, which is the most common greenhouse gas.  Such human activities, such as burning of fossil fuels, industrial production, deforestation, and certain land use practices are increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide that may be leading to changes in the chemical composition and physical dynamics of Earth's atmosphere, including how heat and energy is distributed between the land, ocean, and atmosphere.  In recent years, scientists have discovered that the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide is approximately 30% higher than before the Industrial Revolution(4).  

In 1990, the European Union ministers agreed that carbon dioxide emissions would be no higher in the year 2000 than in the year 1990 and in 1997, in Kyoto, the European Union agreed to collectively reduce greenhouse gases by 8% between 1990 and the period 2008/2012.  In order to achieve the EU overall goal, each member states also have their individual goals to reach the overall goal.  The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions required within each member states was based on projections of the growth of emissions using current technologies and processes(11).   In general, wealthier nations bear most of the burden of emissions reductions, and the less developed nations have been allowed to have a moderate increase in emissions.  For example, Germany must reduce emissions by 21%, or 252 million metric tons, and the UK must reduce emissions by 12.5%, or 97 million metric tons.  However, Spain is allowed a 15%, or 46 million metric tons increase, and Greece is allowed 25%, or 26 million metric ton increase.  In participating in this effort to reduce greenhouse gases, countries can get credit for reducing pollution in other nations.  For example, a company can cut the pollution in one of its factories  overseas if it costs less to do so.  This cuts costs and promotes the export of new technology, which would create more jobs in industrialized countries(12).  

This agreement would set goals for cutting pollution and provide flexible ways for countries to protect the environment while building strong economies.  While the implementation of policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is primarily the responsibility of the member states, the European Council of Ministers have initiated complementary EU-wide policies and programs to improve auto efficiency.  Under this voluntary agreement with the automobile industry, the average fuel efficiency of new cars will improve by 25% between 1995 and 2008.  EU has also established other programs to build mandatory permit procedures for large facilities that emit greenhouse gases and reduce state aid for coal between 1994 and 2002.   The European Commission is also developing a pilot emissions trading program and is considering a EU-wide energy products taxes.  Individual countries are cutting subsidies for coal production, subsidizing or setting mandatory targets for use of renewable energy sources, and taxing carbon-based fuels.  For example, Germany is signing voluntary agreements with fifteen industry associations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and if the industry does not achieve the target, Germany will consider further taxes on energy consumption(7).  [TOP]

Capacity for Domestic Compliance

Member state as well as community participation are both essential parts of the European institutional structure. It is necessary for both to complement each other in order to implement and comply to international accords. The capacity for domestic compliance is largely based on member state participation due to the limited power the European Union has for implementation and compliance to international agreements. The structure of the EU's institutional system allows it to enforce effectively environmental accords that are dependent on legislation and limited administrative capacity. Yet, the structure in which the European Union has limited mechanisms for enforce limits effective compliance for international environmental accords that require strong administrative support and enforcement to execute. (15) 

The European Union's system for dealing with international agreements has developed as it has found methods to enforce compliance among its member states. One of the methods that the EU uses to achieve compliance is by implementation through legislation. In international negotiations the European Union's community is represented by the European Commissions. The Commission is the Community's executive power which is important to the formulation of policies. When the EU negotiates international accords, the Commission is  given instructions by a special committee, composed of member-state ministers, that are responsible to the Council of Ministers. The first step in implementation through legislation involves the Directorate General XI (DGXI).  The Directorate General is the Commission's main administrative unit concerned with environmental issues. The DGXI drafts the implementing legislation that after it is approved by the Commissioners is sent on to the Council of Ministers as a formal legislative proposal for a regulation. The Council of Ministers then adopts the regulation that enforces the international agreement. This regulation is a legally binding obligation that does not need to be ratified by each member states government. After a regulation is implemented, it is the responsibility of each member state to deal with penalties for its lack of execution (15).

The European Union does not have the sources to police the member states regulations. It can use the European Court of Justice and the infringement procedure to penalize states that do not carry out their commitments to the regulation, but this is very difficult to do because they need to obtain the necessary evidence to present to the court. The EU relies heavily on legal instruments because the Commission cannot use non-judicial tools to enforce compliance. The weakness of the European Union is that the Commission was designed to act as an initiator, a creator and formulator, but it lacked the resources to be an implementer. This has become problematic at times when a number of member states do not comply with regulations involving environmental issues such as climate change. Although the EU has the institutional capacity to ensure compliance it is limited. The Union has great capacity in the legislative stages, but does not have the adequate methods for implementation in the post legislative stages. The European Union is currently working on the international environmental concern over climate change and it is implementing programs that will help enforce their agreement to the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse emissions (15). 

The EU is among one of the Countries leading the international community in the effort to comply to the obligations that they set under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. The latest data show that the EU is on track to fulfilling its obligation to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions the targets that were set under the Kyoto Protocol. In March of 2000the European Commission created the European Climate Change Programme (ECCP) to prepare additional policies, measures and an emissions trading system to ensure that the EU achieves the 8% cut in emissions by 2008-2012. The ECCP is a multi-stakeholders consultative process which includes member states experts, industry and green NGOs, besides the different Commission Services that focus on areas for emission reduction. It also established technical working groups that undertake preparatory work on the basis of which the commission can develop policy proposals in areas such as energy, transport, industrial gases and emissions trading. The goal of their work is to identify and develop all of the necessary elements of the EU's strategy to implement the commitment to the Protocol. The ECCP is taking a twin-track approach in which they are preparing a range of EU-level policies and measures focusing on the energy, transport and industry sectors. The Commission plans to expand the ECCP to include other sectors such as agriculture, forestry and waste. The six working groups hat are drawing up specific proposals to be approved by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament are focused on areas such as energy supply, energy consumption, transport, industry, research and the Protocol's three mechanism which are emissions trading, Joint Implementation and Clean Development Mechanism (3). [TOP]

Pressures for Domestic Compliance

The European Union and all its member States have ratified the UNFCCC. The Union's objectives are to not allow the natural absorbing capacity of the Earth to be exceeded, and to follow the activities set out in the UNFCCC.

The reduction of GHG emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000 was agreed to by all member nations of the European Union. But wealthier countries pledged higher reduction percentages compared to less wealthy countries. Germany and the United Kingdom are Europe's leading GHG emitters, and are richer than most countries (10). Both countries have led the stabilization of GHG emissions in their region. 

Members of the EU submitted the inventories of GHG emissions and removals by sinks and describe programs, policies and measures which are taken, or will be taken to address climate change. Commitments of the EU are to be reached through National and Community Programs like energy efficiency and conservations. The Union has developed national programs are seeking to improve energy efficiency by switching to fuels more friendly towards the environment like natural gas, and improving public transportation to discourage the use of private transportation (13). Gas prices in Europe are also much higher than the prices in the United States and they drive smaller cars that are more fuel-efficient. Another strategy used by the European Union is the reduction of CO2 emissions from passenger cars. There is also a proposal for an energy/ carbon tax in the European Union but it has not been adopted. Some member countries like Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Austria, and Sweden, though have already introduced such taxes (2).

One remarkable interest group from Europe that has been actively involved in climate change issues is the group of young European students who call themselves "Betties". These students from 16 countries bet that they can reduce carbon emissions faster than any government in the industrialized world.

Betties are members of the umbrella youth organization, The European Bet. They are based in Berlin and have pledged to save eight percent of (CO2) emissions, within eight months, in 88 schools across the continent. They challenged governments during COP 6 in the Hague to comply with the standards set in the Kyoto Protocol. European Commissioner, Margot Wallstrom, and President of the European Union's Environment Ministers Council, Dominique Voynet, accepted the wager, and put their signature on a contract to make the pledge official (10).

The Betties are going to reduce their energy consumption by doing simple and basic measures like turning down thermostats, using fluorescent lights, and riding their bikes to school. Not only will this help in reducing Europe's GHG emissions but also raise awareness among the youth (10).

If the youth lose the bet, they will conduct a CO2 audit of European Commission buildings in Brussels, and provide the Commissioner with rickshaw rides to work for one month, all with out charge. If the rest of Europe loses the bet, the Commissioner promised to keep her end of the deal and ride her bike to work  (10).

The Bet hopes to set an example for individuals and governments. "We are the ones who will suffer from the consequences of today's inaction," said Kathrin Gutmann, 24, of BUNDjungend, a German youth organization. BUNDjungend won a national bet to reduce emissions at 200 schools last year, and has been the model for the European campaign (10). [TOP]

State Contribution to Compliance and Effectiveness

One of the leading forces behind the continuing efforts of policy discussion relating to climate change has been the member states of the European Union.  Negotiations began in 1989 under United Nations auspices to formulate an international treaty on global climate change and resulted in the 1992 Framework Convention of Climate Change (FCCC).  The Climate Change Convention was opened for signatures at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and in this treaty, nations acknowledged that human activity may be changing the world's climate systems and pledged that industrialized countries would aim to stabilize emissions of human-generated greenhouse gases.  However, at the beginning, there were no legally binding targets or timetables for such reductions, except that developed countries would have a larger target reduction than the developing countries(6).  

Major controversy in negotiations included significant differences among the industrialized/developed countries and between developed and developing countries over the extent of specific reductions and how flexible the means to reach these reductions should be.  Developing countries argued that they were emitting a far fewer greenhouse gases than developed nations, and that increasing their use of energy was critical to their economic development.  Further, they also argued that developed countries have caused the problem by emitting most of the greenhouse gases to date.  

In this ever-changing discussion between the developed and developing countries, the European Union made an early proposal urging for developed countries to make a commitment to reduce three major greenhouse gas emissions.  The European Union proposed what they call a "bubble" approach, which would group all the European nations together and call for emissions reductions that would be cumulative across all countries in the European Union(9).  The Europeans strongly urged the United States to adopt this position at the June 1997 Earth Summit Plus Five meeting in this collaborative effort.  However, the United States was accused at the meeting of failing to take leadership on the climate change issue because it did not articulate specific numeric targets and timetables for greenhouse gas emissions.  

As a result, the European Union's continuing effort led them to become a leader in this international effort and some observers have even noted a significant decrease in European emissions since 1990.  The use of the bubble approach would mean that several countries in the European Union would be allowed actual increase, some sizable, in greenhouse gas emissions, and the EU as a whole would still be able to meet the targets.  The European Union has played a proactive role in the climate change negotiations, but despite their efforts, the EU has also been viewed as controversial because of their so-called hypocritical acts.  The EU's oppositions to the high emission allowances to Russia and Ukraine, which could possibly open the door to trading in so-called hot air, is unjustified when the EU itself has benefited from the gains that have brought down its emissions.  The European Union also opposed target differentiations for all but EU countries, which also resulted in criticism by the other sovereign states.  Nevertheless, several European analysts have argued that the EU could steer the climate regime in a more productive direction(6).  It could strengthen the implementation of climate policies of the member states and coordinate such measures among other countries, as well as encouraging developing countries by helping them to adapt to climate change and engage in a discussion of fair allocation of emission rights.  By developing long-term vision of the climate change regime, some have said that the EU could continuously perform and remain in a leadership role(6).   [TOP]

Likely Future Developments

The future of climate change is largely dependant on the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. In order for the Protocol to enter into force it must be ratified by 55 countries that represent at least 55 percent of the global carbon emissions. Many of the developed countries including the US have not ratified the Kyoto Protocol because they feel that the developing countries should be responsible for compliance to the Protocol and they are also concerned with the economic implications that the emissions cut may have. The level of commitment that will be demanded by developing countries remains one of the most controversial aspects of compliance. Experts are currently working on joint initiatives with developing countries to aid them through financial and technical support that will allow them to meet their commitments to the Protocol. Programs such as the Joint Implementation would allow Annex I parties to finance activities in developing countries and countries with economies in transition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and enhance GHG sinks such as forests and receive credit from those reductions toward their commitment to reduce their own commitment to reduce their own GHG emissions standards. Under the clean development mechanisms private and public entities can assist in arranging funding of certified project activities to aid countries with their emissions reduction plans. These programs and other forms of implementation were discussed during COP , but the parties could not reach an agreement and are set to reconvene in July to discuss implementation methods (8) .

The ratification of the Kyoto Protocol which is fundamental to dealing with the climate change has recently experienced a set back as President Bush announced that the United States would not ratify it because he felt that it places unacceptable economic burden on the US, while it demands nothing of developing countries. President Bush's response has affected the Protocol as the international community believed that the United States and the European Union would be the leaders in the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. The European Commission president Romano Prodi said that Europe will implement the Protocol no matter what the US decides to do. The European Union believes that there is no solution to the climate problem outside of the Kyoto Protocol and they remain committed to it. The EU is using new advance inn technology such as hydrogen power, fuel cell technologies and other programs to reduce the greenhouse emissions. They have emerged as the leader in the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and are urging both industrialized and developing countries to take the necessary steps toward compliance (9).

With the help of the expert groups, the European Union is showing itself as a leader in climate policy. The EU Community has created programs such as the SAVE program which consists of energy efficiency measures and subsidies for renewable energies (ALTENER) that create programs for state member implementation by establishing burden sharing methods. These programs take into account the differences in the EU member states standard of living, the economy's fuel mix, economic structure and competitiveness of internationally-oriented industries. Although the EU has used extensive expert analysis to set their targets for the reduction of greenhouse, gases, costs have not played an important role in the process. In all the member states of the EU, their targets were set on the basis of technical studies and energy forecasts. The only time a cost-benefit analysis was carried out was in the EU Commission to show that the reduction target the Council had agreed on is economically feasible and even legitimate from a cost-benefit perspective. The European Union is concerned with compliance to the Kyoto Protocol to deal with the problem of climate change and will take all the necessary steps to comply to their set targets (1).

The future of Kyoto Protocol and the problem of climate change can be affected during the next few months. The Conference of the Parties scheduled to reconvene on July 18-25 in Bonn, Germany in which  they will discuss the major implementation methods to achieve compliance of the Protocol. Joint implementation and clean mechanism developments as well as other programs will be discussed which are important incentives for countries to comply with the Protocol. Another important aspect with regards to climate change will be dependant upon the decision that the United States follows. The presidents' administration is in the midst of a comprehensive study of the climate change issue.  A cabinet level team from different government agencies is currently engaged in extensive consultations with outside agencies and stakeholders to discuss the problem of climate change and what actions should be taken to deal with this international concern. The European Union is urging the United States to join them in an international environmental cooperation to deal with the problem of climate change. The United States and the European Union cooperation is important to the compliance of the objectives set under the United Nations Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol because they are among the world leaders and can lead others to commit themselves to deal with the concern over climate change. Both of these countries, along with the other parties must create programs that to aid countries and give them incentives to participate in an effort to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases(14).

Citations [TOP]

1.  Bader, Pascal. "Climate policy in the European Union: How to share the burden." Targets and Strategies: The Economic Assessments In European Climate Policy. Cambridge: Environment and Natural Resources Program, Harvard University 1998.

2.  "Climate Change." Climate change in the European Union. http://www.earthtimes.org/nov/climatechangeeuropeansnov23_00.htm 30 May 2001.

3.  "European Climate Change Programme." Europa Climate Change.
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/climat/eccp.htm 24 May 2001.

4.  Guglielnino, Janine E.  "Cruising for Climate Change." Summer 2000.  http://www.findarticles.com/m1016/2_106/64910016/p1/article.jhtml 30 May 2001.

5.  Gummer, John and Robert Moreland. "A Review of Five National Programs." The European Union & Global Climate Change. http://www.pewclimate.org/projects/pol_review_execsumm.cfm 30 May 2001.

6. Gupta, Joyeeta and Ringius Lasse.  International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics.  Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001.

7. Fletcher, Susan R.  "Global Climate Change Treaty: The Kyoto Protocol."  http://www.cnie.org/nle/clim-3.html 29 May 2001.

8.  Hunter, David, James Salzman and Durwood Zaelke. International Environmental Law and Policy.  New York, New York: Foundation Press, 1998.

9.   Kirby, Alex. "Prodi 'shocked by Bush Climate Stand" BBC News  http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1263000/1263888.stm 7 May 2001.

10.  Morrow, Jennifer. "European students bet schools can beat greenhouse gas emissions of Kyoto." 23 Nov. 2000. http://www.earthtimes.org/nov/climatechangeeuropeansnov23_00 30 May 2001.

11. Pew Center of Global Climate Change http://www.pewclimate.org/about/index.cfm 29 May 2001.

12. Renner, Michael.  "The Triple Health Challenge." http://www.worldwatch.org/pubs/vs/vs01/VSexcerpt.html 29 May 2001.

13.  Strongylis, George. "The European Union Policy." International and European Union Action Against Climate Change. http://business.hol.gr/~bio/allfile/HTML/PUBS/VOL5/html/str_bel.htm 30 May 2001.

14.  "Transcript: Ambassador Morningstar Remarks at Brussels Environmental Conference." US. Department of State International Information Programs. http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/global/environ/climate/01050302.htm 24 May 2001.

15.  Weiss, Edith Brown and Harold Jacobson, eds., Engaging Countries: Strengthening Compliance with International Environmental Accords. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998.