The international and regional dimensions of the environmental actorness of the European Union

This article analyses the environmental ‘actorness’ of the EU internationally and regionally with a focus on the Arctic by means of the four criteria identified by Joseph Jupille and James Caporaso, namely recognition, authority, autonomy and cohesion. The investigation is constituted of three parts. The first one discusses the theoretical approach on which the analysis is based. The second part focuses on the development of the EU as an environmental actor internationally while the third part specifically focuses on the case of the Arctic. The analysis shows that the EU is an environmental actor that is stronger internationally than in the Arctic and that the environmental and geopolitical aims of the EU are strictly intertwined. While the EU has managed to affirm itself as a leader in environmental protection internationally, the weakness of the EU as an environmental actor in the Arctic does not serve its geopolitical interests in the region.