Tim Corthaut

Legal Aspects of EU Participation in Global Environmental Governance under the UN Umbrella

This chapter traces the legal framework for the participation of the European Union (EU)2 in the activities of the UN in the field of global environmental governance. The chapter starts with a brief overview of the objectives and commitments of the EU in the field of multilateralism and the environment, where full account is taken of the strengthened language after the Lisbon Treaty. Second, this chapter will look into two key aspects for enabling the EU to participate in international relations: competence and the exercise thereof, in particular as to the external representation of the Union. While both aspects are of course linked, it is important to inquire into them in turn in order to reveal the intricacies of the post-Lisbon framework. It will be argued that precisely the field of global environmental governance offers a prime sample of the major issues that surround the EU’s external action. Moreover, a brief overview is given of the limits and possibilities of the UN legal and institutional framework when it comes to enabling a stronger role for the EU. Finally, the attention is turned to the EU’s actual participation in global environmental governance under the UN umbrella. On the one hand, the EU’s external representation in environmental matters in the UN context is examined, and, on the other hand, some concrete examples are discussed to reveal the challenges and opportunities for coherent and effective future action by the EU in the field of environmental policy through the UN system. The chapter thus offers insights into the day-today practice of the Union as it struggles to translate the vagaries of the Lisbon Treaty into practical arrangements for the EU’s external environmental policy.