Internal EU Climate Diplomacy: Opening the Black Box

The systematic posing of climate change targets on international transport is a relatively new direction and goal for the EU. This goal calls for unpacking the institutional foundations, understanding the dynamics between the key actors and for modifying—when needed—the practices followed within the European system, allowing for the development for an external EU climate diplomacy. The chapter analyzes the processes that are taking place within the EU, shedding light on subjects that still remain somehow elusive. It unfolds the contested issue of EU climate competence regarding international transport policy, while delving into the core of the internal diplomatic processes that take place within the EU, drawing the picture of the prevailing roles and positions that are dominant. It, further, illustrates the procedures concerning competence and coordination in establishing a single EU voice. The chapter concludes with a section that portrays the function and the operation of the three COs, namely competence, coordination and coherence, within this process.