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Evangelos Raftopoulos
tatis mutandis. It should be noticed, however, that in this case, textual
negotiation and drafting are built on the existing original instrument and
in conformity with the requirements of the institutional framework of the
operating conventional regime.
b. The Second Level of Renegotiation as Relational
Governance: Technique Aspects
The second level of the renegotiation governance of the conventional
environmental regime refers to the procedural, organizational and nego-
tiating technique aspects that will lead to the latter’s revision and they are
the same as those already analyzed in the framework of the convention-
constitutive governance. Thus, the renegotiation process is structured on
the basis of the adopted rules of procedure of the established convention-
al regime and is conducted by the same distinct managing actions contrib-
uting to the “unum” in a plurality revision of its text.
As is already pointed out, the role of the Secretariat is enhanced in the
renegotiation process. This is particularly noticeable where the Secretar-
iat is an organ of the conventional environmental regime and at the same
time an integral part of an existing international organization (Church-
ill and Ufstein, 2000). In point of fact, the Secretariat of the Barcelona
Convention system is a typical example of this usually encountered
insti-
tutional duality
, where it is provided that the Contracting Parties desig-
nate UNEP as responsible for carrying out prescribed secretariat functions
(Art. 17). In the light of this institutional duality, the Secretariat is well
placed to introduce and conduct
a single text renegotiation procedure
in the
successive ad hoc Meetings of National and Legal and Technical Experts.
Combining its generic organizational discipline and perspective with its
specific implementation perspective of the conventional regime it serves,
the Secretariat tends to apply, in a consistent manner, the single text re-
negotiation procedure that:
– Does not entail any commitment;
– Simplifies the negotiating process by illustrating the more consoli-
dated aspects of the proposed revision in conjunction with the more
fluid aspects which call for common interest alternative options;
