ABSTRACT
The European Community (EC) became deeply interested in global warming in 1988 following the conference in Toronto. The EC, as it styled itself at that time, passed its first environmental directive in 1967, setting standards for classifying, packaging and labeling dangerous substances. The aim, however, was more to facilitate trade than to protect the environment. The European Environment Agency manages the European environment information and observation network, and considers its role to be restricted to data collection and analysis. It denies that it is a regulator, a policy maker, or a research body. The European Union Commission's two main duties are: to initiate and define new environmental legislation, and to ensure that measures, which have been agreed upon, are actually put into practice in the member states. European agencies are the source of expertise, and by devoting their full time attention to global warming for many years, they shape policy.
