THE LIMITS OF THE EU’S NORMATIVE POWER ON INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION EFFORTS. CASE-STUDY: THE INTERACTION WITH THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
THE LIMITS OF THE EU’S NORMATIVE POWER ON INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION EFFORTS. CASE-STUDY: THE INTERACTION WITH THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Summary/Abstract: When it comes to climate change mitigation, both the European Union (EU) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are regarded as the main actors driving international efforts, but for different reasons. While the EU’s status as a climate change champion is based on its ability to regulate and set high international norms and standards, the PRC is one of the world’s great powers that have the economic and technological resources and the capacity needed to significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Benefiting from its institutional and regulatory framework, the EU seeks through its foreign policy and other cooperation mechanisms to persuade other international actors, such as the PRC, to adapt their climate change policies to European demands in this area. In this paper, I analyze the normative power of the EU over the PRC in fighting climate change, and I will argue why the Brussels efforts to mitigate the speed of the global climate change after the signing of the Paris Agreement (PA) are only partially supplemented by those of the PRC. The reason why EU’s influence on Beijing’s climate change policy is limited has to do with the PRC’s own ambition on this issue, which is driven by its great power aspirations.

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