Abstract

Political Science, level III thesis

Spring semester 2010

Author: Emelie Alfredsson

Supervisor: Tomas Mitander

"A Changed Leadership? - A study of the EU leadership from a institutional standpoint, related to multilateral environmental negotiations"

The EU has for a relatively long time considered itself a leader in the environmental policy area as a whole as well as in multilateral environmental negotiations. This study attempts to classify and identify the European leadership with the purpose of relating it to the institutional framework of the Union. The treaties of the European Union decide its ability to act and its institutions the right to engage in different policy areas, the environmental area being the focus of this study. With the recent ratification of the Lisbon treaty this study aims to make out if the type of leadership the Union showed during the Kyoto negotiations has changed with the new treaty, into a new type during the COP-15 meeting in Copenhagen. The results shows that the Union has kept the same type of leadership despite the change in treaties, though with great potential of changing leadership if or when the new reforms of the new treaty are better implemented. This result points to the fact that institutional changes have a small effect on the EU leadership and that other factors such as ability to unite the member countries may play a bigger role.

Keywords: EU, leadership, multilateral environmental negotiations, Copenhagen, Kyoto