Date: May 3, 2014
As the pioneer in policy making in international climate change policies, European Union and its legislation procedure usually begins with establishing long term legislation projects, and later the project will be implemented through directives and regulations. Legislation will first come up with a long-term project and an overall policy for the legislation framework, and then individualized the separated legislation as substantial regulation, allowing developing countries to join EU’s direction, while adjusting its legislation strategies according to different conditions.
Under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, it specifies that EU environmental strategies should go after the goal of the prevention of climate change strategies. It also mentions the shared authority between EU and its member countries on issues such as environment, climate change and energy campaign. Therefore, EU has brought up European Climate Change Programme in order to honor Kyoto Protocol, and further develop bundled legislation of climate and energy in 2020, hoping to achieve its goal of lowering GHG emission, raising the ratio of EU renewable energy, and improving energy efficiency for its target. The undertaking measures include the establishment of EU carbon emission trade system, setting up reduction targets for those weren’t restricted by carbon trade regulating system, letting each country set up binding national goals to reach the usage ratio for renewable energy, and developing carbon capture and storage. Later on, EU then passed the 2030 climate and energy policy framework in order to continue its campaign on lowering carbon economy and construction of a competitive energy safety system in order to lower EU’s dependency on imported energy and further promote related job market. Under this construction, EU further applies restraining methods to lower carbon emission to 40% of carbon emission in 1990. Moreover, EU has invested in renewable energy in order to increase the ratio of renewable energy and to improve its job market and economy progress. Before that, EU has come up with a 2050 grand plan as a long term establishment, hoping to develop EU as competitive low carbon economy. In a nutshell, the legislation framework of EU is quite designful, we could see that there will be transnational integrated projects in the future.
The organization framework of EU is quite interesting. The climate change issue was under the jurisdiction of European Environment Agency. But in 2010, there has been an independent agency - DG Climate Action. DG Cilmate has taken over the related function of the original climate negotiation in industrial organization. Two agencies are geographically close by, with mostly the same administration members from the original agency. DG Climate takes charge in collecting information of each country, and it has been an integration of cross-function department and single-authority organization, with its level equivalent to a commission standing. While it incorporated different opinions from different departments and countries, DG Climate has raised the enforceability of climate change strategies and efficiency, and further increase its negotiation influence.
The regulated objectives of EU’s restraining method falls on national governments, with a few regulations involved in restraining special corporates and ordinary people. The methods that EU applies in regulation in overall carbon regulation involves both order control and economic incentives, it also has penalty for violators. For instance, airline companies that violate directives of emission trade shall pay for penalty, and might face disciplinary sanction of grounded aircrafts.
If we look into EU’s legislation action and method, we can see that EU is indeed the pioneer of international movement of climate change. It’s future development worths our continuing observation.
France has incorporated Environmental Charter in its Constitution. It does not have a specific legislation for climate change but merely established an environmental agreement framework with its main focus on implementing EU regulations. There are more than 50 nuclear plants in France. After the Fukushima incident, the new government proclaimed its intention of lowering the number of nuclear power plants. However, Professor Hsu indicated that because of economic reliance and technical exporting factors, it is difficult for France to lower the number of its nuclear plants. Moreover, the nuclear plants has taken some burdens off France in its carbon emission pressure. With its stability in geographic nature, France is likely to continue its reliance on nuclear power plants. Professor Hsu also pointed out that even though France has been vetoed in collecting carbon tax by its constitutional committee, however, the reason behind was not that there shall not be carbon tax, but that it was unconstitutional of its violation in equality principle of tax, thus leaving room for discussion in carbon tax system.