A Discursive Perspective on the Construction of an Environmental Acquis in the EU and ASEAN

1
A Discursive Perspective on the Construction of
an Environmental Acquis in the EU and ASEAN

• Yoichiro Usui (usui_at_nuis.ac.jp)
• Niigata University of International and
  Information Studies
• Paper submitted to
• The 2007 UACES Research Conference Exchanging
  Ideas on Europe
• The University of Portsmouth, 3-5 September 2007.

2
Background Research Concerns

• Normative Evolution in Regionalism
• Two Factors Endogenous and Exogenous Ones
• Regional Governance in Globalisation
• Complementary to Global Governance ? or Exclusive
  Regionalism?
• A Comparative Perspective
• The EU as a sui generis system, but. . .

3
Theoretical Concerns

• The Acquis Communautaire, or an Acquis Politique
• Formal The Unity of Single Normative Order
  (Azoulai 2005)
• Informal Shared Values/World Views (Wiener 2000
  Jørgensen 1999)
• How an Acquis Evolves? / How an Acquis is
  Resilient?
• Endogenous Factors Institutionalism a
  Historical Version
• Daily Practices Path Dependency and Unexpected
  Consequences
• Factors of Sunk Costs of Policy-Making,
  Institutional Barriers to Reform and the Rising
  Price of Exit (Pierson 1998 45)
• Exdogenous Factors the Sources of Normative
  Discourses
• Multilateral Arrangements outside of
  Region-Building Projects
• Penetration of Discourses originated from Outside
  into the Acquis

4
Empirical Parts

• Evolutionary Processes, not Outcomes
• The EEC before the SEA of 1987
• ASEAN before Hanoi Action Plan of 1998
• Before the Breakthrough of Fully-fledged Regional
  Projects
• Comparative Considerations
• Initial Institutional Settings No Remarks about
  the Environment
• Environmental Action Programmes Daily Practices
• External Environmental Policy Relations Sources
  of Discourses

5
EEC Evolving Envi. Governance

• No Environmental Legal Base in Basic Treaties,
  but..
• Massive Environmental Legislation / Three EAPs
  until the SEA
• Environmental Interpretation to Art. 2 EEC
  (Mastellone 1981)
• Harmonisation for Common Market Building (Art.
  100 EEC)
• Basic Community Objectives (Art. 235 EEC)
• Institutional Practices Evolution from the
  acquis politique
• The 1st to 5th EAPs Non-Binding Documents
• Resolution for Comitology (OJ 1975 C168/5)
• Committee on Adaptation to Technical Scientific
  Progress
• Gentlemens Agreement (OJ 1973 C9/1)
• Notification of National Measures

6
EEC Exogenous Factors

• No Competences for Environmental International
  Agreements
• Article 235 A Backdoor to International
  Agreements
• Article 229 Cooperation with International
  Agencies
• ERTA (Case 22/70) and Rhine (Opinion 1/76)
  External Competences
• Entering into International Conventions
• 24 Instruments (including protocols/additional
  agreement)
• Paris/Barcelona/Bonn/Berne/Gdansk
  Sea/River/Wildlife/Air
• Secondary Legislation referring to International
  Conventions
• 9 Directives/3 Decisions/5 Recomm. /5 Resolutions
  before SEA
• Exchange Letters with International Agencies
• CoE(59) FAO(62) UNESCO(64) WHO(72) UNEP(83)
• Planning by the First EAP of International
  Collaboration
• UNESCO/WHO/FAO/WMO/IAEA/OECD/GATT/CoE/NATO

7
ASEAN Overview

• A Potential Power
• 10 countries and 550m people big development gap
  (CLMV)
• The Driving Force in East Asian Regionalism Plus
  3 or 6
• An Evolutionary Process of Regionalism
• Established in 1967 under the Cold War
• ASEAN 2020 of 1997 and the Hanoi Plan of Action
  of 1998
• Concord II of 2003 and Vientiane Action Plan of
  2004
• In 2007, the Charter majority-voting a
  court-like organ?
• Three Pillars
• Political (APC), Economic (AEC), Socio-Cultural
  (ASCC)

8
ASEAN Environmental Governance

• The ASEAN Way different from the EU
• Soft Law Formulation of Common Action Frameworks
• National Implementation of ASEAN Policy
  Guidelines
• Non-interference and No Compliance Procedure
• In Constitutive Documents, no Remarks about the
  Envi., but..
• Soft Commitments by Political Declarations and
  Action Programmes
• Manila (81) Bangkok (84) Jakarta (87) Kuala
  Lumpur (90) Singapore (92) Bandar Seri Begawan
  (94) Jakarta (97)
• Heritage Preservation (84) Nature Conservation
  (85) Transboundary Pollution (95) Haze (97)
• The Emergence of an Acquis Politique

9
ASEAN Evolving Envi. Governance

• Four Action Programmes since the late 1970s until
  1997
• ASEP I (78-)/II (83-)/III (87-)/Strategic Action
  Plans (94-)
• Individual Projects and Policy Guidelines
• Institutional Development
• Expert Groups (AEGE) under Science/Tech.
  Committee (COST)
• Then upgraded to Senior Officials Meeting (ASOEN)
  under the aegis of ASC and AMME (Formal and
  Informal), supported by the Secretariat
• Expert Networks
• Six Working Groups/Leading Countries
  Intergovernmental Networks
• Transboundary Air Pollution/Sea Marine/Nature
  Conservation/Information and Education/Environment
  al Economics/Environmental Management
• Agencies-like Institution
• ASEAN Regional Center for Biodiversity
  Conservation

10
ASEAN Exogenous Factors

• The 1972 UNCHE UNEP Montevideo Plans
• A Background of the 1981 Manila Declaration
• UNEP Regional Sea Programmes East Asian Seas
  Programme
• The Catalytic Support by the UNEP and UNDP
• The Making of ASEPs (I/II) Drafting Supported by
  the UNEP
• Individual Projects for Capacity-building of
  ASEAN Countries
• The Implementation of the 1992 Rio Commitments
• The 1994 Strategic Action Plans and the 1998
  Hanoi Plan
• The Unity of ASEAN Countries in the CSD and the
  CBD
• Responses to the Montreal Protocol the Basel
  Convention

11
Concluding Remarks

• Evolving Regional Environmental Governance
• An Endogenous Factor Not a Big Political Grand
  Bargain
• Daily Institutional Practices Evolving Acquis
  Politique
• Penetration of Envi. Discourses into Regional
  Common Agendas
• Why Envi. Discourses become Resilient in
  Contestation?
• An Exogenous Factor
• Sources of Discourses Multilateral Arrangements
  outside of Region-building Projects Region-wide
  or UN systems
• A Future Research Agenda
• Comparison with other Issue-Areas Some Cases of
  Conflict