Mechanisms And Policies Of The European Union In Global Marine Environmental Governance

The strategic position of ocean has risen significantly since the 21st century,demonstrated by its key role in international competition in politics,economy and security.Against the backdrop of rising intensity of geopolitical competition and the emergence of both traditional and non-traditional ocean issues,Global Marine Environmental Governance(GMEG)has been given added significance.The multilateral framework has seen an increase in actions on issues such as climate change and marine biodiversity conservation,with major powers such as the EU starting to update their strategic plans for the oceans.GMEG has become a new growth pole for the competition for power in international ocean affairs and to maintain or consolidate its international leadership.The aim of the thesis is to provide a systematic discussion of the EU’s participation in GMEG,and therefore the central question of this study is to explore the development,evolution and impact of the policies and institutions of the EU’s participation in GMEG in the perspective of Normative Power Theory.This study follows a analytical framework combined with a positivist research approach.A qualitative analysis of the EU’s GMEG mechanisms and policies is conducted,and a combination of case studies and response studies is used.Through a historical empirical analysis of EU marine environmental governance cases combined with normative power perspectives,the study obtains knowledge of EU marine environmental governance through case studies and derives an assessment of policy developments and EU’s involvement in GMEG.The thesis examines the mechanisms and policies of the EU’s marine environmental governance,the EU’s global marine environmental governance under the United Nations framework,and the EU’s participation in multilateral and bilateral cooperation on marine environmental governance.The EU has incrementally constructed its internal ocean governance norms through legislation,and promoted norm-based diplomacy on maritime issues,exporting norms,regulations and institutions to the outside world.The EU has set a force of the example in global environmental affairs,seeking to become a leader in the international system for global environmental governance of the oceans,influencing and shaping the changes in regulations and norms of ocean governance.Normative power has become an important policy tool and objective of the EU’s external strategy.The paper’s discussion on EU action reveals the process by which the EU exerted its influence as a normative power in GMEG.On the protection of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction,the EU has acted as a force for change,playing the role of agenda-setter,driving the negotiation process for a new agreement on the United Nations Law of the Sea.In tackling the ocean issues of climate change,the EU has directly influenced the revision of MARPOL by the International Maritime Organisation through legislation applicable to third countries.The EU aims to singlehandedly addressing a global problem,and by exerting pressure to raise international standards.The EU firstly promotes stricter environmental regulations internally,draws on the power of member states to form blocs in international organizations to advocate their policies,then raises international standards and brings global levels of protection in line with the EU.The EU’s participation in regional seas conventions enhances regional and cross-regional coherence in ocean governance and provides a platform for governance experience,information exchange and cooperation between EU countries and third countries.This enhances the effectiveness of the implementation of EU global ocean governance policies and regulations,and provides opportunities to mobilize and influence third countries.The EU’s GMEG policy is distinctly normative,with an emphasis on promoting multilateral cooperation,setting high standards of environmental rules and shaping the ’norms’ in regional and international environmental law.The EU’s ambition to become a normative power in leading global ocean governance is a choice that blends idealistic aspirations with the pursuit of realistic interests.Both the EU’s values and cost-benefit considerations are essential reasons for its normative policies.However,from the perspective of global marine environmental governance,the EU’s dominance in it may lead to a passive role for UN-centered governance institutions,which would be detrimental to the building of a multilateral environmental governance system and lead to a de-globalization and decentralization of environmental governance.While the EU emission trading system is the role model and prototype for most other countries’ emission trading systems,however,instead of converging towards a single global model,creating more variants over time.It is also worth thinking about how to manage pollution spills like carbon leakage,where unilateral regional regulation simply transfers the risk of pollution and disaster to other areas and does not ensure a globally harmonized approach to maritime safety and environmental protection.The paper also examines the challenges of EU participation in GMEG,and the limitations of the EU as a normative power.The EU has challenges at both the internal and external levels.Internally,it is constrained by differences in political traditions,economic structures and divergent interests among EU member states,and the internal construction of European integration has stagnated.At the external level,the EU is constrained by the slow development of relevant global governance mechanisms and by the fact that the EU’s normative constructs depend on acceptance from other countries.The EU’s ambition to become a normative power in global environmental politics cannot be achieved by occupying the moral high ground.The EU still needs to be pragmatic and respect the different stages of development of other countries,especially developing countries.Respect the economic,political,social and environmental development rights and national interests of other countries.Only by providing more public goods to the international community from a mutually beneficial perspective will its norms be disseminated and accepted.