Britain, France, and the European Union - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 117

the European Environmental Agency, was established in 1993 in order to
develop data. It is a technical agency with little policy role, having its head-
quarters in Copenhagen.
Many nongovernmental interest groups are based in Brussels in order to
influence the EU headquarters. The biggest is the European Environmental
Bureau (EEB), which is comprehensive. Established in 1974, it is a federa-
tion of 140 national groups such as France Nature Environnement, the
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and the German Grune Liga
(Green League). In turn many of these groups are federations themselves.
Other comprehensive interest groups in Brussels include Friends of the
Earth, WWF, and Greenpeace. Climate Network Europe and Bird Life
are more focused. All except Greenpeace have received some funding for
their maintenance from the EU Commission, and their members are often
employed temporarily by the commission as experts.
Global warming has emerged as a scientific and political issue at the
same time as the EU has evolved and become more integrated. Indeed,
it has been the most important environmental issue. Geographically, the
continent is under grave threat from warming. According to traditional
oceanography, the Gulf Stream-North Atlantic Drift moves warmth from
the tropics to keep the winter temperatures moderate, and its disruption
would make London and Copenhagen as cold as Montreal and Calgary.
They have a lot to lose. Europeans both as individual countries and as
the EC participated in the 1988 Toronto Conference, where they strongly
backed an international treaty. Prior to the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Earth
Summit, the EC coordinated a bargaining position. The various coun-
tries competed for greenness by proposing reductions in greenhouse gases
(based on the year 1990). France bid a 15% reduction, Britain bid 20%,
and Germany bid 25%. They also proposed reductions based on the conti-
nent as a whole, whereby countries with low emissions like Portugal could
transfer their surplus “hot air” to high emissions countries like Belgium.
The Framework Convention on Climate Change signed at Rio did not list
specific targets, but as negotiations moved forward the Europeans lowered
their promises. At Kyoto the EU agreed to an 8% reduction. During the
negotiations leading up to Rio, the Europeans wanted to have it both ways.
They wanted to vote as 12 countries, plus an extra vote for the EU.
Even these modest quotas proved too much. he EU and most members
did not actually ratify the Kyoto Protocol for several years. Finally, the
approach of the 10th anniversary of the Rio Summit, to be celebrated with
another summit, this time in Johannesburg, South Africa, prompted the