Still saving the earth? The European Parliament's environmental record

Burns, Charlotte; Carter, Neil; Davies, Graeme A. M.; Worsfold, Nicholas

doi:10.1080/09644016.2012.698880

Cited by 76 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Although Burns et al . () suggest that the crisis had a chilling effect upon the negotiation of this package, these legislative proposals arose from a meeting of the European Council in March 2007 (Council of the European Union, ), prior to the start of the crisis. It therefore seems appropriate to include the additional 16 policies identified in the paragraph above in the pre‐crisis period, supporting our choice of 31 May 2009 as the cut‐off between the pre‐crisis and crisis eras.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first policy (2009/450/EC) that weakened existing policy intensity was the definition of ‘aviation’ in the ETS, and contained an extensive list of forms of aviation that were not to be included in the ETS, such as military, fire‐fighting, humanitarian and scientific research aviation, thus reducing the amount of aviation emissions covered by the ETS. This weakening is consistent with diminutions in ambition observed in other cases (Burns et al ., , ). The second case, 2010/778/EU, transferred five million additional free allowances to Denmark, after the state argued successfully that its baseline was disproportionately higher than other ETS states (for discussions of permit allocation, see Caney, ; Verde et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The OLP is the EU's main legislative procedure, and affords the EP the role of co‐legislator with the Council. There is an assumption in the EU environmental policy literature that the EP is generally the most pro‐environment EU institution (Burns, ; Burns et al ., ; Judge, ), notwithstanding recent studies suggesting that this behaviour has waned over time (Burns et al ., ). Therefore, we would expect policies adopted via OLP typically to be ambitious, on the grounds that the EP will usually try to strengthen policy.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Crisis, Climate Change and Comitology: Policy Dismantling Via the Backdoor?

Burns

Tobin

2020

J of Common Market Studies

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The EU is reputed to be a climate pioneer. However, the EU has been beset by crises, with potentially negative consequences for climate ambitions. The coding and analysis of EU climate legislation between 1998 and 2015 reveal that while the rate of creating climate policy has increased since the onset of the crisis, the ambition of these policies has waned. Technical policy instruments (comitology) at the EU level, namely delegated and implementing acts (DIA), are analysed alongside the legislation adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure (OLP). If they were applied as indicated in the treaties, the technical DIA measures should not influence the EU's policy ambitions, but in fact, during the crisis era, DIA measures were used more frequently than during the pre-crisis era, and used in three out of the four cases that weaken policy, suggesting that a minor dismantling of climate policy is taking place at EU level, but via the back door.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Crisis, Climate Change and Comitology: Policy Dismantling Via the Backdoor?

Burns

Tobin

2020

J of Common Market Studies

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“…Historically, the EP has been the strongest voice for environmental concerns in the EU (Rasmussen, ; Smith, ), and the ENVI has been the strongest voice within the EP (Hurka, ). However, this environmental emphasis has subsided as the EP has gained more power and engaged with the other EU institutions in crafting legislation (Burns, Carter, Davies, & Worsfold, ; Burns, Carter, & Worsfold, ). The effects of this moderation are illustrated in this analysis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legislative Behavior in the Seventh European Parliament and the Regulation of Shale Gas Development in the European Union

Wendling

2016

Review of Policy Research

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This study addresses the regulation of shale gas development in the European Union, the role of the European Parliament in the formation of such regulation, and the factors that are associated with legislative behavior in the Seventh European Parliament. I test hypotheses about the influence of member state‐level characteristics related to the benefits and risks of shale gas such as economic development, decarbonization, energy security, and environmental protection. The results show that the member state‐level characteristics are weakly related to the voting behavior of members of the European Parliament. Only one seems especially salient: greenhouse gas emissions intensity. Party cohesion among European political groups holds greater explanatory power, suggesting that the most influential factors are ideological rather than provincial. The EP's role as a force for environmental protection in the EU may be moderated by member state interests and the competencies justifying supranational energy policy. Highlights The EP has rejected language both calling for moratoria and supporting high shale gas production. Party cohesion is the strongest factor associated with roll call votes on shale gas. MEPs may also be influenced by the potential for decarbonization.

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“…However, this article has shown that neither co‐decision nor QMV has resulted in strong EPI, partly because of diverging interests in the Council and partly because the EP has become less environmentally progressive. This supports the conclusions of other recent research (Burns et al ., 2012a,b; Rasmussen, ), which have demonstrated that the EP has become more environmentally pragmatic. The Eurovignette Directive shows that the rapporteur wanted to reach a policy outcome and had to be pragmatic regarding the agreement he could reach with the Council.…”

Section: Policy Outcome: the Institutional Setting And Epimentioning

confidence: 99%

The Road to Environmental Policy Integration is Paved with Obstacles: Intra‐ and Inter‐Organizational Conflicts in EU Transport Decision‐Making

Dyrhauge

2014

J of Common Market Studies

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Transport is one of the most polluting sectors and needs to adopt environmental protection, yet the constant struggle between the environment and the economy is often won by economic priorities. This struggle makes environmental policy integration difficult, especially in the legislative process. This article analyzes the co‐decision process which led to the adoption of the 2011 Eurovignette Directive, and examines how intra‐organizational conflicts in the European Parliament and the Council shaped inter‐organizational negotiations and thus the level of environmental policy integration in the adopted policy. The European Parliament's rapporteur is identified as central for resolving differences between the actors. Overall, the paper argues that the economic crisis has strengthened existing national economic preferences over environmental protection, leading to environmental policy integration that is symbolic rather than substantial.

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Still saving the earth? The European Parliament's environmental record

Cited by 76 publications

References 22 publications

Crisis, Climate Change and Comitology: Policy Dismantling Via the Backdoor?

Crisis, Climate Change and Comitology: Policy Dismantling Via the Backdoor?

Legislative Behavior in the Seventh European Parliament and the Regulation of Shale Gas Development in the European Union

The Road to Environmental Policy Integration is Paved with Obstacles: Intra‐ and Inter‐Organizational Conflicts in EU Transport Decision‐Making

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