Lisbon and Climate Change

Climate change is an issue of immediate concern for citizens across Europe. The European Commission has long been considered a leader both internally among member states and externally on the global level in attempts to tackle the massive market failure that climate change represents. Climate change is finally moving to the top of political agendas across Europe. Elements of this change in attitudes are to be found in the text of the Lisbon Treaty where a number of potentially significant provisions on climate change are included.

Article 174 commits the EU to: “promoting measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems, and in particular combating climate change”. For the first time combating climate change is explicitly stated as an EU Treaty objective. In a new Energy Title, Article 176a (1) would commit Union policy to aim to: “promote energy efficiency and energy savings and the promotion of new and renewable forms of technology”. These Articles could enhance the Commission’s power to initiate tough climate change legislation by offering a clear legal basis, outside of the political agreements at European Councils, for strong policy reform. But how would they be interpreted by the European Court of Justice?

Article 188n outlines how international negotiations would be conducted. It states that: “The Council shall authorise the opening of negotiations, adopt negotiating directives, authorise the signing of agreements and conclude them”, and “the Commission…..shall submit recommendations to the Council, which shall adopt a decision authorising the opening of negotiations and, depending on the subject of the agreement envisaged, nominating the Union negotiator or head of the Union’s negotiating team”. The nominee would replace the Presidency as the lead EU negotiator. Would this amendment result in a more significant role for the Commission in negotiating climate change agreements? Would the provisions enhance the EU’s ability to negotiate ambitious deals on the international stage?

Of course it is always notoriously difficult to predict how the European Court of Justice might interpret particular articles. However, the possibility that these revisions might have serious implications for how the EU and member states approach the climate change issue cannot be discounted.