eu environmental law
As I announced this morning, the week after next we will focus on EU environmental law. On Thursday 6 April we will move to Room 352 to hear from Margot Wallstrom, a Vice President of the EU Commission.
On Tuesday April 4 we will meet in our normal room and hear from Tomas Grönberg on the subject of the EU’s Climate Change Policy. Before the class please could you listen to this interview of Tim Flannery, an Australian paleontologist by Terry Gross (the audio link is at the top of the page).
Tomas Grönberg (B.A. with honors in Russian and Russian and Eastern European Studies, Grinnell College, 1982; Master of Arts in International Relations, Yale University, 1985) is EU Fellow for the academic year 2005/06 at the University of Miami European Union Center. A Swedish national, he represents the European Commission in Brussels, where he has been an administrator on environmental issues since 1996. Most recently he has worked as a political advisor (“Member of Cabinet’) to the European Commissioner for Environment with a particular responsibility for the preparation of new legislation on chemicals and for relations with the European Parliament. He was active in the “Yes to Europe” campaign before the Swedish referendum on whether to join the EU in 1995 and prior to that he was political advisor to the Swedish Minister for Culture and Immigration Affairs. He started off his professional career as Program Specialist at the U.S. Information Service at the American Embassy in Stockholm.
It’s not required for the classes or for the exam, but if you are interested in exploring EU environmental policy you can find some information on the Commission’s environment web pages (information on climate change is here).
I think the EU’s commitment to the environment is extremely significant. Obviously common environmental concern was inevitable as the member states are in such close proximity to each other. But the best part is that the EU serves as an example of international law…and perhaps the EU’s collaborative stance on the environment will encourage other countries to take this matter seriously.