| dc.description.abstract | This chapter explores the rules and principles underpinning the concept of coherence in EU external policy, in the specific context of external environmental policy. The focus will be on inter-policy coherence, and the rules and principles governing the relationship between policies which may relate to norms and objectives, to instruments and to actors. The chapter uses the three-level conception of coherence developed in the author’s earlier work: first, consistency, seen in terms of conflict resolution and requiring rules of hierarchy; second, the effective allocation of tasks between actors and instruments, avoiding both gaps and problematic duplication and requiring rules of delimitation; third, synergy between norms, actors and instruments, requiring principles of cooperation and complementarity. The chapter explores the relationship and tensions between these levels, and in particular (i) the relationship between synergy and hierarchy through an examination of competing objectives in Case C 246/07 Commission v Sweden; and (ii) the relationship between allocation and synergy in determining the appropriate legal basis for international agreements with an environmental dimension. | en |