Stuck between Climate Change and Competitiveness

THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT POLICY OF THE EU: EU AND INTERNATIONAL LAW PERSPECTIVES, E. Morgera, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2012

17 Pages Posted: 22 Feb 2012

See all articles by Hans H. B. Vedder

Hans H. B. Vedder

University of Groningen - Faculty of Law

Date Written: February 22, 2012

Abstract

This article analyses the external competence of the EU in the field of climate change. Whereas this is formally an area of shared competence, the close relation between climate change and competitiveness could be taken to treat it as a de facto exclusive competence. The enormous impact of climate change policies and the far-going economic and energy interdependence of the Member States result in the requirement to no longer deal with climate change as a purely environmental problem. This refers to the fact that the relatively low transport costs of energy mean that distortions of the level playing field affect not only the outermost Member States, but all Member States. The possibility of having an intra-EU mechanism for dealing with the problem of carbon leakage only increases this competitiveness problem. This in turn influences the legal position of the EU vis a vis its Member States, as is evidenced by the differences in the EU’s negotiation positions in the international climate change negotiations.

Keywords: European Union, climate change, energy, competitiveness, competences

JEL Classification: K23. K32, Q4

Suggested Citation

Vedder, Hans H. B., Stuck between Climate Change and Competitiveness (February 22, 2012). THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT POLICY OF THE EU: EU AND INTERNATIONAL LAW PERSPECTIVES, E. Morgera, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2009251 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2009251

Hans H. B. Vedder (Contact Author)

University of Groningen - Faculty of Law ( email )

9700 AS Groningen
Netherlands

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