The EU is widely reported to be a global environmental leader and is party to the major international environmental agreements. However, apart from multi-lateral environmental negotiations, the EU’s seeks to extend it environmental policy beyond its borders through a surprisingly large array of instruments, including: bilateral agreements, strategic and economic partnerships, transnational policy networks, internal regulation with external effects as well as development cooperation. In addition, innovative EU environmental policy can significantly shape policy elsewhere in the world through the effects of policy learning, competition and emulation.

Against this backdrop, EEEP brings together top international scholars, policy makers and civil society to explore how, where and to what effect the EU is embarking on new forms of external environmental governance, especially in Africa.

During the project the following research questions will be examined:

• What are the different policy instruments that the EU uses to pursue it environmental norms, rules and policies outside of its borders (e.g. strategic partnerships; transnational networks; development cooperation)?
• How does the EU pursue its environmental objectives in different environmental sub-fields (e.g. climate change, biodiversity, fisheries, chemicals policy)?
• How can the EU’s external environmental governance be characterized in different countries and regions of the world?
• What are the main challenges that the EU faces in pursuing its environmental norms, rules and policies outside of its borders?

The output of the project will be a joint publication either in the form of a special issue or an edited book to be published in 2016.

More information surrounding the workshop that was held as part of the 2015 Governance Innovation Week can be found on the GovInn website.

Funding: Erasmus +