Managing the ecological transition of the EU: The European Green Deal as a regulatory process

Abstract

The article discusses the rationale and ways of functioning of the European Green Deal (EGD) project, launched by the Commission in December 2019 and developed through a variety of measures ranging from the European Climate Law to the “Fit for 55” package. After situating the EGD in the context of the European multidimensional crisis, the article focuses on the EGD’s objectives and its instruments. It is argued that the EGD may be interpreted as a highly ambitious but still fragile regulatory project that aims at managing a transition from one phase of the European integration process to another. Its ambivalent relationship with existing international initiatives in the field of climate change is explored in the last part of the article. European Green Deal, EGD, European Climate Law, Fit for 55 package, multidimensional crisis, transition, European integration, climate change, environmental protection, NGEU