M-RCBG Senior Fellow-Led Study Group: Elizabeth Golberg
Study Group 1: Regulatory Cooperation – European Union Perspective
November 15, 4:00-5:30 M-RCBG Conference Room, Belfer 503
Study Group 2: Is there a ‘Brussels Effect’ in Climate Change regulation? With guest Dr. Artur Runge-Metzger
March 7, 4:00-5:30 M-RCBG Conference Room, Belfer 503
Study Group 3: 5 Years On: A Stocktaking on the Juncker Commission
April 24, 4:30-6:30 Lower Level Conference Room, Adolphus Busch Hall, 27 Kirkland Street at Cabot Way
Study groups will be organized on the following themes:
- Regulatory Cooperation – What is it and has it worked?
Definitions and typology of regulatory cooperation mechanisms and description of the provisions in EU-third country formal agreements and informal arrangements. The results of regulatory cooperation – specific examples. Outcomes of both formal agreements as well as voluntary adoption of EU rules (the so-called ‘Brussels effect’). - Regulatory Cooperation – How realistic is it? A reality check - analysis of institutional and governance issues in bilateral regulatory cooperation discussions (specifically the challenge of formal EU-US cooperation).
- Looking ahead
Lessons learned and conditions for success of formal regulatory cooperation. Alternatives – market led harmonisation? Will China develop a standard setting role?
Study Group 1: Regulatory Cooperation – a European Union perspective (November 15, 2018)
Elizabeth Golberg, Senior Fellow at the MRCBG, will discuss the range of EU-third country regulatory cooperation vehicles, examining the formal provisions and processes in EU bilateral association, trade and investment agreements and reviewing the literature on the informal spread of EU rules, the so-called ‘Brussels effect’. She will explore how best to examine results and impacts in this context, comparing binding/formal agreements to non-binding/informal arrangements.
Study Group 2: Is there a ‘Brussels Effect’ in Climate Change regulation? (March 7, 2019)
In the first study group of ‘Regulatory Cooperation: A Reality Check’ in November 2018, we looked at EU third country formal trade agreements and their success in promoting regulatory cooperation. At the March 7 study group, we will look at the informal diffusion of rules, termed the ‘Brussels Effect’. The latter refers to the voluntary adoption by companies and third countries of EU laws and standards outside of the framework of formal trade agreements (See Bradford, A. (2012). The Brussels Effect. Northwestern University Law Review, 107(1), 1-67). The examples cited most often in the literature are EU waste, chemicals and data protection legislation where multi-national companies, having to comply with EU legislation in the EU internal market, find it more efficient to adopt the same standards globally. Third countries see an advantage in taking over the EU model because it is modern, regularly evaluated, reviewed, and updated; sets a high standard; and, by drawing on different national traditions, has the propensity to suit a variety of regulatory environments.
The study group will briefly review legislative areas where EU legislation has served to inspire the development of similar legislation in third countries. The discussion will then focus on climate change and explore to what extent EU policy and legislation is providing a model for third countries. We will examine the EU emission trading legislation and the ‘CO2 and cars’ initiatives specifically and look more broadly at the question of whether climate change cooperation initiatives with US, Canada, Australia, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea and regional groups have been instrumental in promoting legislative harmonisation. Dr. Runge-Metzger will share his experience from international climate change negotiations and explore the dynamics of policy diffusions in that context.
The guest speaker is Dr. Artur Runge-Metzger, Director of Climate Change Strategy, DG Climate Action of the European Commission. The directorate covers international and EU climate strategy, economic assessment, evaluation, coordination with EU policies impacting on climate change (e.g. energy, transport, agriculture), land use, land use change and forestry, CO2 emission standards for cars and trucks, carbon capture, use and storage, financing instruments, monitoring, reporting, and verification. He was previously Director of International and Domestic Climate Change Strategy (2009 -2016). Since 2003 he has held positions and often led EU negotiating teams. He was Vice-President of the UNFCCC Bureau in 2010-2012 and co-chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) in 2013/14 preparing the Paris Agreement. Prior to that, he was in external relations departments, serving as Head of Operations in the EC Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo and in Zimbabwe. He has a doctorate in agricultural economics.
Study Group 3: 5 Years On: A Stocktaking on the Juncker Commission
In the final study group, Elizabeth Golberg, Senior Fellow at the MRCBG, will present, together with the Centre for European Studies, a stocktaking of the results of the Juncker Commission. She will focus specifically on the Better Regulation and international trade/regulatory cooperation priorities of the Commission. The presentation will include a summary of her work on Better Regulation and regulatory cooperation at the MRCBG at Harvard Kennedy School.
Elizabeth Golberg recently retired from her post as Director of Smart Regulation, responsible for regulatory policy development and its coordination and application in the European Commission. Since 2005, she has been closely involved in setting up the European Commission’s ‘Better Regulation’ system, overseeing and coordinating the preparation and quality control of impact assessments, evaluations and stakeholder consultations. The application of EU law was an important component of her regulatory policy work and she developed and oversaw the introduction of important changes European Commission approach to enforcement. Elizabeth participated actively in international regulatory cooperation initiatives, as a member of the Bureau of the OECD Regulatory Policy Committee as well as in bilateral discussions, including those conducted in the context of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations. Her interest in broad issues of regulatory policy followed her practical experience in environmental policy development as Assistant to the Director General and Head of Unit for Strategic Planning and Evaluation of the European Commission’s Environment Directorate General from 2002-2005. In addition to regulatory policy, Elizabeth has long experience in external relations and assistance programme coordination and management. She was Head of Unit for external institutional relations and G7/G20 in the European Commission’s Secretariat General, developing working relations with and acting as the main coordination point for the European External Action Service. She held various advisory posts in the external relations field in the European Commission from 1993 to 2002, focusing on the accession process of the Eastern European Member States and policy development and assistance programming in the EU’s near neighbourhood. Elizabeth was actively engaged in the pre-accession preparations of Slovakia and was coordinator for the European Union’s technical assistance programme (the Phare Programme) in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Elizabeth started her career in the Canadian Department of External Affairs and International Trade in 1980, serving in posts in Bonn and Brussels. Ms. Golberg has a Bachelor of Arts and Science from the University of Lethbridge, Canada and a Graduate Diploma in International Economics from the Graduate Institute of International Studies, University of Geneva, Switzerland. She has participated in executive courses at Oxford Said Business School and at the Salzburg Seminar. As a Senior Fellow, her research is entitled Better Regulation in the European Union — Boon or Boondoggle? Her faculty sponsor is Joseph Aldy, Associate Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Email: elizabeth_golberg@hks.harvard.edu