This paper analyses the environmental dimensions the past accession of Greece, Portugal and Spain to the EU in order to draw lessons for the current accession of countries of Central and Eastern Europe. A distinction is made between scale, composition and technique effects. Two major conclusions...

This paper addresses German energy policy instruments and their compatibility with WTO rules. Germany and the EU are forerunners in international climate change policy and driving forces behind the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. German energy policy includes approaches to foster electricity generation...

„... an den Küsten – liest man – steigt die Flut / Der Sturm ist da, die wilden Meere hupfen / An Land, um dicke Dämme zu zerdrücken“ – dieses „Weltende“, das Jakob von Hoddis 1911, in der Endzeitstimmung vor Beginn des ersten Weltkrieges, erfühlte, findet knapp neunzig Jahre...

Auf dem Erdgipfel 1992 in Rio de Janeiro bekannten sich Vertreter fast aller Industrie- und Entwicklungsländer zu dem Ziel, »eine neue und gerechte globale Partnerschaft aufzubauen«. Dieses Leitmotiv findet sich in vielen Umweltabkommen der jüngsten Zeit, in der Klimarahmenkonvention ebenso...

With the onset of the new millennium, the longstanding need for reform of the United Nations system has gained new momentum. Efficiency gains and better coordination are desirable, though not sufficient to bring about improvement in international relations. It could therefore make sense to look...

The »Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer« obliges industrialised countries to reimburse developing countries — through new and additional resources — all agreed incremental costs incurred by them in their efforts to save the ozone layer. To this end, a Multilateral...

Die Freisetzung persistenter organischer Schadstoffe (POPs) gilt inzwischen als ernstes globales Umweltproblem. Ende Juni 1998 trat im kanadischen Montreal ein zwischenstaatlicher Verhandlungsausschuß zusammen, um einen weltweiten Vertrag »über die Umsetzung internationaler Maßnahmen...

Global environmental policy certainly could gain strength if the management of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) or of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) were made more efficient. However, such a minimalist strategy of efficiency improvement is no panacea: it can...