ABSTRACT
This chapter provides that a personal but hopefully informative outlook on the way international environmental issues are being prepared in the European Union and negotiated with other partners, notably in the United Nations (UN) system. It assumes a general knowledge of the EU institutions and of the UN system. The Council is the law making body of the Union, deciding according to weighted votes or unanimity and led by a Presidency rotating every 6 months. The Council consists of a number of sector Councils, a General Affairs Council and a top-level European Council of heads of state or government and is serviced by the Council Secretariat. The Parliament has gradually extended its powers and now participates in the law making through the 'co-decision procedure', exercises political control over the Commission and has a veto over the Community budget. The Sixth Environmental Action Programme was presented by the Commission to the Council and Parliament in mid-2001.
