Johns Hopkins Summer School on European Environmental Politics 2010

Ecologic held the second Johns Hopkins Summer School on European environmental politics from 17 to 28 May 2010. Experts from Ecologic Institute and other guest speakers held seminars on subjects ranging from European integration to European water policies. Johns Hopkins students also met with a variety of stakeholders in Berlin and Brussels to discuss European environmental policy.

The two-week syllabus covered the following topics from various perspectives:

• Institutions of the EU, their competencies and the relationship between EU Member States and the EU in environmental policies; EU decision making and infringement procedures (Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf).
• EU and US relations on environmental issues, including controversial issues; potential for cooperation; EU environmental policy in the context of G8 and NATO; US involvement in EU policy making; the form and extent of EU involvement in US policy-making (R. Andreas Kraemer);.
• EU climate and energy policy, including EU and UN-climate change negotiations; the EU emission trading scheme; the January 2008 Commission proposal on climate change and energy policies (Dr. Camilla Bausch);
• EU Air Pollution, including air quality in the Environment Action Programme; thematic strategies on air pollution; regulatory approaches; integrating air quality concerns into the affected sectors; current developments, e.g. the new Air Quality Directive, car emissions, the european Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) (Dr. Ralph Bodle).
• EU Waste Policies, including basic principles of waste management (planning, reduction, recycling, recovery, disposal); reducing the impact of landfills and waste incineration via landfill and waste incineration legislation; specific legislation for the different waste streams, e.g. packaging, electronic devices, end-of-life vehicles (Alexander Neubauer).
• EU Emission Trading Scheme including basic principles of emission trading and linking (Eike Dreblow).
• EU Water Policies, including the European Water Framework Directive and its implementation 2000-2008; the selection of cost-effective measures; public participation in river basin management planning; heavily modified water bodies (Darla Nickel).

As part of the summer school, the students visited the national park “Unteres Odertal” and took guided tours through the power plant Berlin Lichtenberg and two low energy houses. Students met with Members of Parliament, representatives from the German federal government, the European Parliament, the European Commission, business associations, trade unions and NGOs.

The Summer school was coordinated by Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf (Ecologic Institute) and Eileen McGurty (Johns Hopkins University).