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I will start with a discussion of the ?ET pregnancy?. Why is it meaningful to characterise it as ?ultra-quick?? Based on a summary of the main milestones and development of the process, a central tool will be to compare this process with some other relevant EU processes and also with central developments within the global Kyoto Protocol context. In section three I will then turn to some important possible explanations for this speediness. First, the experienced physician would take a closer look at the real starting point of the pregnancy. Had the EU actually been pregnant for some time when talks about ET picked up speed in 1998; could it be that the pregnancy in reality started when the EU started to develop climate policy back in 1991/1992? In other words, we need to look at central problem characteristics and the very ?ripeness? of the ET issue within the EU context around 1998. Second, could it be that a strong and heavy-handed midwife contributed to a shortening of the pregnancy period? This of course refers to the seemingly dominant role of the Commission indicated above. Could it be that a unified and strong Commission provided the entrepreneurial services needed to ?install? this complex system in record time; hence providing the sort of problem-solving capacity sorely lacking in other international contexts? Moreover, was this strong role of the Commision combined with positive and ?abiding? other EU institutions? Third, it is common knowledge that external impulses and shocks may shorten a pregnancy. This refers to interaction, linkages and learning in relation to bodies, actors and processes outside of the EU. Among other things, it is here natural to consider the US withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol process in March 2001. This may have opened a window of opportunity for EU global climate leadership and may have spurred the development of internal EU climate policy. Finally, section four will sum up central findings and reflect a little on implications for future effectiveness. Does the ?ultra-quick pregnancy? mean ?a premature baby?? For instance, could it be that central stakeholders and target groups have not been adequately consulted and important policy externalities have not been taken into consideration? Moreover, do recent developments in terms of Member States? follow-up of the 2003 Directive further substantiate that the EU ET policy-making speed is a quite break-neck one? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]