Abstract:While the European Union's identity may have normative and/or other characteristics, it is fundamentally a large single market with significant institutional features and competing interest groups. Given these central characteristics, the EU may be best understood as a Market Power Europe that exercises its power through the externalization of economic and social market-related policies and regulatory measures. Such an exercise of power, which may occur as intentional or unintentional behaviour, suggests the EU is fully capable of using both persuasive and coercive means and tools to influence international affairs. By scrutinizing the EU's identity, official documents and initial evidence, the article provides an analytical framework for understanding what kind of power the EU is, what the EU says as a power and what the EU does as a power.

The conceptualization of the European Union (EU) as Market Power Europe reflects an understanding that the EU most consequentially affects the international system by externalizing its internal market-related policies and regulatory measures. While considerable evidence exists to support such an exercise of power, further elaboration of the conceptualization reveals a number of ways in which it may contribute to the EU as a Power debates. This article undertakes a crucial stock-taking exercise for employing Market Power Europe as a dynamic conceptual framework for understanding and researching the EU as a power. The findings suggest that the conceptualization may improve analytical clarity and advance our empirical and theoretical understanding of the EU's external relations across various policy areas.These insights on the dynamic nature of the conceptualization as an analytical tool reveal important considerations for future scholarly work on the EU as a global regulator and beyond.

The principal-agent (PA) approach is increasingly used to explain how and why the EU formulates its trade policy and engages in international trade negotiations. This article evaluates the utility of PA in trade policy through a comparative analysis of the EU's participation in two different international negotiations: the International Competition Network and World Trade Organization (2001-06). The comparison of EU institutions and activities in these two empirical cases suggests that while PA seems well suited to explain international negotiations in regulatory policies (competition), it seems less suited to explain developments in distributive policies (trade). The findings, which reveal potential problems of multiple agents and a greater likelihood of observational equivalence in trade policy, advise caution when using PA to explain the EU's behaviour in international trade negotiations. Copyright (c) 2007 The Author(s); Journal compilation (c) 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

(Recibido el 30-11-2014. Aprobado el 13-12-2014) Resumen. La contribución técnica presenta una discusión acerca los indicadores defi nidos por la UN-FCCC y apropiados para aplicar en proyectos de generación eléctrica en Latinoamérica. Se hace énfasis en el posible uso de indicadores para incentivar el uso de tecnologías de generación renovables y mitigar la emisión de gases con efecto invernadero a la atmósfera, en proyectos que se encuentren en fase operativa. Adicionalmente, se presenta un nuevo indicador (El del Costo Social del Carbono-SCC-) diferente a los defi nidos por la UNFCCC. Finalmente se centra la discusión en la aplicación de los indicadores en el caso Colombiano y cómo la correcta valoración de las emisiones de CO2 permite una mayor penetración a las tecnologías de generación renovables como la eólica.Palabras clave: Indicadores de emisiones, valoración, mitigación de emisiones de CO2, proyectos de energías renovables.Abstract. The paper presents a discussion about the indicators defi ned by the UNFCCC and suitable for application in power generation projects in Latin America. Emphasis on the possible use of indicators is done to encourage the use of renewable generation technologies and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, in projects that are in operational phase. Additionally, a new indicator (The Social Cost of Carbon-SCC) different from those defi ned by the UNFCCC is presented. Finally, the discussion focuses on the application of indicators in the Colombian case and how the correct assesment of CO2 emissions allow greater penetration of renewable technologies such as wind generation.

In the last twenty-five years the European Union (EU) has gradually developed an international, albeit ambiguous, identity that has greatly enhanced its leadership role in the international environmental arena. The leadership offered by the EU has been largely shaped by its unique institutional structure, but also by such factors as the changing nature of international environmental issues. In this essay we contrast the traditional role of the United States with that of the EU in global climate change negotiations and comment on the future role of both actors in the international environmental arena. An understanding of the institutional structures of the EU and the changing nature of international environmental issues helps to explain the EU's ascendant role as a leader in multilateral environmental politics. p