Commentary
Europe isn’t as weak in the new geopolitics of power as many would believe. But to leverage its assets and claim a sphere of influence, Brussels must stop undercutting itself.
Dimitar Bechev
REQUIRED IMAGE
Paper
Politics and Parallel Negotiations: Environment and Trade in the Western Hemisphere
Published on Apr 5, 2002
Source: Carnegie Paper No. 25
Summary
In December 1994, at the behest of then–U.S. president Bill Clinton, the leaders of the 34 Western Hemisphere democracies convened in Miami for the first comprehensive hemispheric summit in more than 25 years. The assembled heads of state pledged that their countries would forge a path toward regional integration based on four overarching principles: Governments should build strong democratic institutions, prosperity should be promoted through free trade and economic cooperation, poverty and discrimination should be eliminated, and the natural environment should be preserved through policies promoting sustainable development. Seven and a half years later, the promise of that first Summit of the Americas has only partly been realized. The 34 governments have made substantial progress on their second goal—economic integration—through negotiations on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which is expected to go into effect in 2005. However, they have accomplished little in the name of sustainable development.
This new working paper describes the dual challenges of building economies and protecting the environment. John Audley and Edward Sherwin demonstrate how political pressures in industrial and developing countries force linkages between efforts to achieve both objectives simultaneously, and conclude with a prescription for policy makers that addresses the environment and development needs of the hemisphere's countries by giving new mandates to existing multilateral institutions.
Click on link above for full text of this Carnegie Paper.
About the Authors
John Audley is senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment and director of the its Trade, Environment, and Development Project. He is the author of A Greener Fast Track: Putting Environmental Protection on the Trade Agenda (Carnegie Endowment Working Paper No. 22) and coauthor of Overhauling the WTO: Opportunity at Doha and Beyond (Carnegie Endowment Policy Brief No. 6).
Edward Sherwin is a junior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, working on both the Trade, Environment, and Development and the Public Role for the Private Sector projects. He will be attending Harvard Law School in Fall 2002.
A limited number of print copies are also available.
Request a copy
About the Authors
Mr. John Audley
Former Senior Associate
Edward Sherwin
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Carnegie Europe
- Global Instability Makes Europe More Attractive, Not Less
- How Turkey Can Help the Economies of the South Caucasus to DiversifyArticle
Over the past two decades, regional collaboration in the South Caucasus has intensified. Turkey and the EU should establish a cooperation framework to accelerate economic development and diversification.
Feride İnan, Güven Sak, Berat Yücel
- How Europe Can Survive the AI Labor TransitionCommentary
Integrating AI into the workplace will increase job insecurity, fundamentally reshaping labor markets. To anticipate and manage this transition, the EU must build public trust, provide training infrastructures, and establish social protections.
Amanda Coakley
- Can Europe Still Matter in Syria?Commentary
Europe’s interests in Syria extend beyond migration management, yet the EU trails behind other players in the country’s post-Assad reconstruction. To boost its influence in Damascus, the union must upgrade its commitment to ensuring regional stability.
Bianka Speidl, Hanga Horváth-Sántha
- Taking the Pulse: Can the EU Attract Foreign Investment and Reduce Dependencies?Commentary
EU member states clash over how to boost the union’s competitiveness: Some want to favor European industries in public procurement, while others worry this could deter foreign investment. So, can the EU simultaneously attract global capital and reduce dependencies?
Rym Momtaz, ed.
