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The paper addresses the rapid initiation, decision-making and implementation of the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS) in light of EU resistance to emissions trading during the Kyoto negotiations. It discusses the explanatory power of three explanatory perspectives, all rooted in established theory traditions. First, we discuss the relevance of ‘Liberal Intergovernmentalism’, indicating that the EU ETS was requested by central Member States and the rapid decision-making process was possible because a majority of Member States quickly came to favour such a system. Second, we assess ‘Multi-Level Governance’ and institutional approaches to EU policy making, indicating that the EU ETS was initiated by the enrepreneurship of European Commission in alliance with non-state actors, and the rapid decision-making process was possible due to the leadership of the Commission and the European Parliament. The third perspective is inspired by literature on international regimes, indicating that the EU ETS was a result of external institutional factors, such as the Kyoto Protocol and developments within the climate regime. The paper concludes by using the relative explanatory power of these perspectives to shed light on the functioning of the EU ETS so far and discuss the prospects for an environmentally effective system in light of the recent proposal for a revised EU ETS for the period after 2012. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the foundations for pessimistic expectations in the European Union (EU). It discusses the underlying models and variables and extent to which they succeed in capturing the essence of enlargement and the nature of EU environmental policy. It claims that reluctant member states and insufficient EU institutional capacity will lead to slowdown in EU decision making. It details the basis for domestic environmental policy in new member states.