Corporate claims about environmental performance have increased rapidly in recent years, as has the incidence of greenwash, that is, communication that misleads people into forming overly positive ...

The Means and End of Greenwash

The European Union has played a leading role in pushing for the establishment, ratification, and meaningful implementation of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, although it still has significant efforts to make to achieve its target of an 8 percent cut of greenhouse gas by 2008–2012 relative to the 1990 level. This article explores the political factors behind continued EU leadership in climate change. It argues that a few individual states (including Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, and the UK) played an essential role in establishing the EU's agenda in this domain. However, the decentralized governance structure of the EU has also encouraged a process of mutual reinforcement, whereby individual states, the European Commission, and the European Parliament are competing for leadership.

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Multi-Level Reinforcement: Explaining European Union Leadership in Climate Change Mitigation

The argument that the EU is a humanitarian – normative, civilian, civilizing – power has gained considerable attention Echoing discussions about recent developments in the international system towards a post-Westphalian order, the EU's actual foreign policy is in many ways a test case for such developments However, much remains to be done in terms of finding a satisfactory theoretical basis from which to examine this argument The study of the putative humanitarian dimension to the EU's foreign policy may benefit from legal and normative theory and from sociological insights into modern politics On this basis we may find a better starting point for examining whether the EU's humanitarian dimension is comprehensible as well as justifiable

What kind of power

The ‘Blue Economy’ is an increasingly popular term in modern marine and ocean governance. The concept seeks to marry ocean-based development opportunities with environmental stewardship and protect...

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Shades of blue: what do competing interpretations of the Blue Economy mean for oceans governance?

The purpose of this article is to develop more fully the notion of the international identity of the European Union (EU) in world politics. We will attempt to balance our previous focus of work on the "active dimension' of the EU' s attempts to "assert its identity on the international scene'; by looking at the "reflexive dimension'; of the EU's international identity from a more sociological perspective. Our article will argue that the distinctive polity perspectives and role representations of the EU can be thought of as a form of "difference engine'; which drives the construction and representation of the EU's international identity. Like Babbage's original difference engine, the EU's international identity is not a multiplier of difference, exaggerating the dissimilarities between the EU and the rest of the world through the generation of a new European supranational identity, but functions on the basis of addition - by adding an international EU element to Europeans'; complex and multifaceted identities.

The ‘Difference Engine’ Constructing and Representing the International Identity of the European Union

The claim that the EU played a leadership role at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development is examined using the concept of normative power Europe. We examine how the EU operationalized the concept of sustainable development before questioning whether the EU represents a normative power in the field of sustainable development. In doing so, we address two key concerns. First, we question the depth of the current EU's commitment to sustainable development. Second, we raise a number of important theoretical questions regarding Ian Manners' broader application of the concept of normative power Europe.

The European Union and the World Summit on Sustainable Development: Normative Power Europe in Action?

The European Union and the World Summit on Sustainable Development: Normative Power Europe in Action?*

This article examines whether the European Union (EU) could be seen as a normative power at the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development We explain how the EU operationalised its commitment to the concept of sustainable development before highlighting the impact the EU had on the final summit outcomes It shows that although in many areas the EU was able to offer leadership, internal policy coherence prevented it fully being able to develop that role and thus fully promoting the norm of sustainable development

Green hope or greenwash? The actions of the European Union at the World Summit on sustainable development

The 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) presented an important test of how far the European Union's (EU's) commitment to sustainable development had evolved. This article applies the conception of the EU as a normative power to the EU's role at Johannesburg. It examines how the EU operationalized the concept of sustainable development before analysing the role the EU played in the outcomes of the WSSD and the factors that facilitated or constrained the potential extension of an EU norm in this field. In doing so, the article questions the depth of the EU's current commitment to sustainable development, suggesting that while it may represent a leader in some fields of environmental policy it remains some way short of a coherent adoption of sustainable development as an EU norm. As a result, the factors constraining the development of a norm prevented the EU offering strong leadership at the WSSD. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Leading the way? The European Union at the WSSD

On 26 November 1999, the second stage of the German government's ecological tax reform law was passed by the Bundesrat. For a coalition that has been under increasing pressure, this law marks a significant political achievement, especially in the context of the poor recent run of Lander election results. This article briefly examines the background to the new law, before outlining the details of its first and second stages, focusing on the compromises made in finalising the second stage. It then discusses some of the reactions to the law and argues that it can be seen as a success for both partners in a coalition government that is struggling in relation to both internal cohesion and electoral success.

Simon Lightfoot

Papers

The European Union and the World Summit on Sustainable Development: Normative Power Europe in Action?

The European Union and the World Summit on Sustainable Development: Normative Power Europe in Action?*

Green hope or greenwash? The actions of the European Union at the World Summit on sustainable development

Leading the way? The European Union at the WSSD

The 1999 ecological tax reform law