Conference Agenda

The European Green Deal (EGD), first published in 2019, represents a series of policy priorities and proposals charting a path to climate neutrality across the European Union (EU). The EGD has been heralded as a critical juncture in the Union’s response to climate change. With the high-level political support for the EGD and its push to integrate climate concerns into all areas of EU policymaking, it is logical to assume that this critical juncture would also extend to the EU’s foreign policy. The question thus arises how the EGD has transformed how the EU pushes for its climate policy objectives internationally, a responsibility traditionally held by a set of experts and officials within the European Commission, Council of the EU, and European External Action Service (EEAS). Yet, the multiplicity of actors and institutions involved, as well as the associated bureaucratic politics, present significant barriers to shifting how the EU conducts its climate diplomacy.

Building on original interviews with EU actors working on climate diplomacy across institutions between 2021 and 2022 this paper examines how EU actors have adapted their work in response to the EGD. It answers the following research questions: To what extent has the European Green Deal represented a critical juncture for the practice of climate diplomacy? What factors can explain this (lack of) change? In answering these questions, this paper examines how the European Green Deal has concretely shaped (or not) the EU’s foreign policy and sheds light on the adaptability of the EU’s diplomatic system to changing priorities. In doing so, it provides an updated assessment of the functioning of the EU climate diplomacy apparatus and its responsiveness to changing priorities in the midst of the climate crisis.

With the adoption of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) the European Union (EU) is essentially externalising its climate policies towards third countries. The primary aim of the CBAM is to advance the decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries within the EU and prevent carbon leakage. At the same time, the externalisation of the EU’s carbon price will significantly affect economies exporting these emission-intensive goods to the EU. This carries the potential to drive mitigation efforts in affected industries beyond the EU. However, it also poses significant economic and political challenges to these countries, which might trigger political and policy responses to mitigate or circumvent the impact of the CBAM on domestic industries. This in turn raises questions regarding the legitimacy and equity of unilateral climate policies.

Against this backdrop, this paper analyses if and how the introduction of the EU CBAM has triggered the development of climate ambition and policy in non-EU countries. Building on the literature of the externalisation of EU regulation, causal mechanisms of the external effects of EU climate policies on third countries are conceptualised. Next these mechanisms are tested empirically through case studies on countries that will be highly impacted by the CBAM as they export a high share of emission-intensive goods to the EU, such as South Africa, the United States or Turkey. The analysis is based on policy documents and interviews with relevant policymakers from the EU and the countries studied.

The papers explore under which conditions the introduction of unilateral climate measures can impact climate policy development in third countries, but also what political and economic challenges this poses to affected countries. Finally, the paper discusses potential legitimacy and equity challenges that could arise through the CBAM and how the EU could potentially mitigate these.

Opportunity dances with those already on the floor, and the intricate choreography of external environmental governance involves a diverse ensemble of players; national governments, international organizations, and non-state entities wield significant influence over the domestic environmental agenda. The paper delves into the impact of the EU Green Deal on the EU accession negotiations as it represents a transformative agenda for achieving sustainability goals. it aims to analyze the interaction between external governance, civil society, and the adoption of EU environmental legislation in two EU candidate countries, Türkiye and Ukraine. A rare focus of comparative analysis, Turkiye and Ukraine are two candidate countries that share common environmental challenges related to the Black Sea ecosystem, but have varied historical legacies, diverse socioeconomic and environmetal challenges, and are at different stages of the EU accession process. Understanding the impact of the Green deal on green clusters in Türkiye and Ukraine within the context of their historical legacies provides insights into the broader implications of EU environmental policies. The research employs a qualitative approach, drawing upon a combination of literature review, document analysis, and interviews with key stakeholders within the environmental civil society organisations. It aims to address several potential research gaps in the existing literature, which suffers from limited focus on environmental civil society impact and the effect of the Green deal on the candidate countries approximation to the EU legislation. Comparing Türkiye and Ukraine allows for a more nuanced understanding of the complex dynamics between external governance, civil society, and environmental policies in the context of EU accession and the Green Deal with implications for both academic scholarship and policy-making.