ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the EU's role in the failure of the international community to adopt a Kyoto-style agreement for the post-2012 period. Difficulties in reaching an agreement amongst EU Member States should have been the first warning sign of problems to come. The first was that the agreement should be top–down and the second that the promulgated targets should be ambitious and based on IPCC science. The main problem, however, with its negotiating approach was that it was proposing what Underdal refers to as a 'politically inadequate solution design model'. According to Underdal, one main cause for failure relates to process-generated stakes or, put differently, the manner in which pressure on a party to live up to its reputation could prevent it from capturing the bigger picture of the negotiation. Coalition-building appeared to offer a better way forward, especially since the EU had benefited in the past whenever it had been proactive in seeking to forge alliances with other parties.
