Abstract
As a result of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from the European Union (EU), the environmental governance structure in Brazil has been challenged, bringing to light a legal ambiguity in the ecological obligations between the EU and Brazil. The article hypothesizes that this legal ambiguity is caused by the complex political and legal system that characterizes the Brazilian governance structure. How does the Brazilian federal government, in its role as policymaker, balance its EU trade agenda? Can it be affirmed that the federal government's capacity as policymaker affects the political convergence between Brazil and the EU? This review will explain the mechanisms in the EU legal framework and its institutions regarding trade and the environment in the strategic relationship between the EU and Brazil. It will further analyze the decision-making process of the federal government as it relates to FDI and environmental policy in Brazil. The research design is based on an analysis of the EU legal framework, of Brazilian neoliberal economic strategy and domestic environmental policy, in order to demonstrate the convergence of political discourses from 2000 to 2013. The data indicates that the EU legal framework and the Brazilian domestic environmental policy put pressure on the federal government to take on the role of facilitator. The findings confirm the literature on the EU legal framework and its manipulation of Brazilian environmental policies. This review expands on these findings inasmuch as the Brazilian federal government allows for a convergence of policies and relationships around environmental obligations in trade thereby creating a stopgap for institutions to act toward environmental regulations.
Highlights
The Brazilian Federal Government’s Role in the Prioritization of European Union (EU) Foreign Direct Investment and its Environmental Agenda∗
This review expands on these indings inasmuch as the Brazilian federal government allows for a convergence of policies and relationships around environmental obligations in trade thereby creating a stopgap for institutions to act toward environmental regulations
The article analyzes the role of the Brazilian federal government as a policymaker in balancing its trade agenda with the EU environmental agenda
Summary
The Brazilian Federal Government’s Role in the Prioritization of EU Foreign Direct Investment and its Environmental Agenda∗. The future of trade agreements will depend on the ability of state actors to regulate environmental obligations and levels of policy protection that adhere to ecological standards while facing political discourses from actors trying to in luence environmental policy in favor of economic and political demands (LEBESSIS and PATERSON, 2001). This divisive political relationship among state actors forces a transnational political agenda on the Brazilian federal government with the intent to legitimize the policymaking process related to FDI (HOOGHE and MARKS, 2003; 2009). The current debate in multilevel governance on jurisdictional levels and administrative overlapping demonstrates the need to better understand the national government’s role in negotiating trade deals while adhering to environmental obligations (HOOGHE and MARKS, 2003; 2009)
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