The involvement of the European Parliament in UN climate negotiations

Delreux, Tom [UCL] Burns, Charlotte [University of Sheffield]

Since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009 the European Parliament (EP) has gained the right to veto the European Union’s (EU) ratification of almost all international agreements, contributing to the on-going parliamentarization of the EU. Whilst the Parliament has enjoyed significant powers in internal policy-making on climate change, its external role has been relatively circumscribed, which raises the question as to whether this new ex post veto power has changed the EP’s behaviour in the field of international climate diplomacy. This paper analyses the EP’s evolving role in international climate diplomacy through a systematic evaluation of its expressed policy preferences prior to international climate conferences and its activities during those meetings. We find that whilst there is evidence that the EP has become less radical over time and that it has become more active at COPs and increasingly engaged with a range of more important actors at the COPs, there is limited support for the shadow of consent affecting the EP’s behaviour or its activities at the COPs where it holds a veto power.