EUs normspridning som identitetsbygge

Sammanfattning: The question of what kind of actor the European Union is has been much debated since its formation. One of the policy areas where the union has been taking on a prominent role is the environmental. The EU uses environmental policy to form its international identity in the lack of a common military force. Not only does it impose ambitious environmental targets within its borders, but also through various external policy instruments. The market size of the EU has made trade agreements an environmental policy tool of growing importance. One of the first and most comprehensive agreements is the EU-ACP, often referred to as the Cotonou Agreement. How the EU formulates goals of sustainable development in agreements with third countries is interesting to investigate both in regard to the evolution of environmental policy and how this affect the international identity of the union. This paper seeks to contribute to the discussion of the character of the European Union through examination of trade agreements through the lens of Ian Manners’ theory of Normative Power Europe and discourse analysis.