The European Green Deal: Business as usual or the real deal?
(2020) JURM02 20202Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- The European Green Deal was launched as a new, disruptive policy on how to transform Europe to the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The Commission proposed more ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets in line with the Paris Agreement, a new action plan for a circular economy with an extended responsibility on producers and how to make sure the transition is just as well as well financed. As the climate crisis increases, ambitious policy responses are indeed necessary. However, over the past three decades the European Union has launched policies on climate change and sustainable development, and even enshrined in the Treaties as well as secondary legislation and yet not succeeded to fully deliver on their targets and... (More)
- The European Green Deal was launched as a new, disruptive policy on how to transform Europe to the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The Commission proposed more ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets in line with the Paris Agreement, a new action plan for a circular economy with an extended responsibility on producers and how to make sure the transition is just as well as well financed. As the climate crisis increases, ambitious policy responses are indeed necessary. However, over the past three decades the European Union has launched policies on climate change and sustainable development, and even enshrined in the Treaties as well as secondary legislation and yet not succeeded to fully deliver on their targets and mitigate the consequences of the unsustainable practices of our society. Evaluation reports, both from EU institutions and scholars, suggest this is largely due to lacking implementation and enforcement. Therefore, this thesis examines the EU policy area of climate change and sustainable development, how it is currently enforced and evaluates the European Green Deal to better understand how it can better succeed than prior EU policy. The examination of the evolution of EU policy on climate change and sustainable development shows that the Commission drew attention to the threat of climate change and need for mitigating action early and promoted the EU development of policies and strategies early on. EU policy on climate change and sustainable development has gone from soft law instrument, with vague targets and unprecise descriptions on how to achieve the objectives, mainly deriving on international regimes and depending on voluntary commitments, to precise obligations on GHG emission reductions enshrined in laws and monitoring mechanisms. But, despite increased ambitions and hardening soft law, the EU has continued to struggle to fully implement and enforce its strategies. The European Green Deal proposes increased, legally binding targets for GHG emission reductions and proposes legislative acts on circular economy and sustainability in “hard law”. But, if they are not paired with improved possibilities for the Commissions to implement and enforcement, the EU will keep struggling to deliver on its grand promises. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Den Europeiska Gröna Given lanserades som en ny, omstörtande policy med syfte att omvandla Europa till världens första klimatneutrala kontinent till år 2050. Kommissionen föreslog mer ambitiösa, bindande mål för minskning av växthusgaser i enlighet med Parisavtalet, en ny handlingsplan för en cirkulär ekonomi med utökat ansvar för producenter
samt föreslog hur övergången ska bli både rättvis och vara välfinansierad. I och med att klimatkrisens effekten blir alltmer framträdande, behövs ambitiösa policys. EU har dock lanserat ambitiösa policys för klimatet och hållbar utveckling de senaste tre decennierna,
inkluderat både kampen mot klimatförändringar och hållbar utveckling i fördragen såväl som sekundär lagstiftning, utan att lyckas med... (More) - Den Europeiska Gröna Given lanserades som en ny, omstörtande policy med syfte att omvandla Europa till världens första klimatneutrala kontinent till år 2050. Kommissionen föreslog mer ambitiösa, bindande mål för minskning av växthusgaser i enlighet med Parisavtalet, en ny handlingsplan för en cirkulär ekonomi med utökat ansvar för producenter
samt föreslog hur övergången ska bli både rättvis och vara välfinansierad. I och med att klimatkrisens effekten blir alltmer framträdande, behövs ambitiösa policys. EU har dock lanserat ambitiösa policys för klimatet och hållbar utveckling de senaste tre decennierna,
inkluderat både kampen mot klimatförändringar och hållbar utveckling i fördragen såväl som sekundär lagstiftning, utan att lyckas med att nå målen. Utvärderingsrapporter från både EU-institutioner och forskare tyder på att det huvudsakligen beror på otillräcklig implementering och genomförande. Därför undersöker denna uppsats EU:s policyområde vad gäller klimatförändringar och hållbar utveckling, hur det genomförs samt utvärderar den Europeiska Gröna Given för att bättre förstå hur den kan bidra till att uppnå EU:s mål, jämfört med tidigare EU-policys. Undersökningen av utvecklingen av EU:s policy på klimatförändringar
och hållbar utveckling visar att Kommissionen var tidig med att uppmärksamma klimatförändringshotet, behovet av klimatförändringsåtgärder och var tidig med att arbeta för att utvecklandet av policys och strategier på EU-nivå. EU-policy om klimatförändring och hållbarutveckling har gått från att vara ett “soft law”-instrument med vaga mål och oprecisa beskrivningar för hur målen skulle uppnåtts samt var huvudsakligen beroende av frivilliga åtagande, till mer precisa, lagstadgade skyldigheter att reducera växthusgaser och
övervakningsmekanismer. Men, trots ökade ambitioner och en ”förhårdnande” av ”soft-law”-instrumenten, så har EU ändå haft problem med att fullt ut implementera och genomföra sina policys. Den Europeiska Gröna Given innehåller förslag om att lagstifta om höja EU:s mål för minskning av växthusgaser och föreslår skarpa lagar för cirkulär ekonomi och hållbarhet. Men, om dessa inte kombineras med förbättrade möjligheter för Kommissionen att implementera och genomföra, så kommer EU troligtvis även i fortsättningen ha problem med att leva upp till sina stora löften. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9034786
- author
- Ramberg, Sara LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- JURM02 20202
- year
- 2020
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- The European Green Deal, EU law, climate change policy, Sustainable Development, Enforcement, Implementation.
- language
- English
- id
- 9034786
- date added to LUP
- 2021-02-06 12:49:57
- date last changed
- 2021-02-06 12:49:57
@misc{9034786,
abstract = {{The European Green Deal was launched as a new, disruptive policy on how to transform Europe to the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The Commission proposed more ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets in line with the Paris Agreement, a new action plan for a circular economy with an extended responsibility on producers and how to make sure the transition is just as well as well financed. As the climate crisis increases, ambitious policy responses are indeed necessary. However, over the past three decades the European Union has launched policies on climate change and sustainable development, and even enshrined in the Treaties as well as secondary legislation and yet not succeeded to fully deliver on their targets and mitigate the consequences of the unsustainable practices of our society. Evaluation reports, both from EU institutions and scholars, suggest this is largely due to lacking implementation and enforcement. Therefore, this thesis examines the EU policy area of climate change and sustainable development, how it is currently enforced and evaluates the European Green Deal to better understand how it can better succeed than prior EU policy. The examination of the evolution of EU policy on climate change and sustainable development shows that the Commission drew attention to the threat of climate change and need for mitigating action early and promoted the EU development of policies and strategies early on. EU policy on climate change and sustainable development has gone from soft law instrument, with vague targets and unprecise descriptions on how to achieve the objectives, mainly deriving on international regimes and depending on voluntary commitments, to precise obligations on GHG emission reductions enshrined in laws and monitoring mechanisms. But, despite increased ambitions and hardening soft law, the EU has continued to struggle to fully implement and enforce its strategies. The European Green Deal proposes increased, legally binding targets for GHG emission reductions and proposes legislative acts on circular economy and sustainability in “hard law”. But, if they are not paired with improved possibilities for the Commissions to implement and enforcement, the EU will keep struggling to deliver on its grand promises.}},
author = {{Ramberg, Sara}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The European Green Deal: Business as usual or the real deal?}},
year = {{2020}},
}