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Environmental policy of the European Union

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The European Union (EU) Environmental Policy was initiated in 1973 with the "Environmental Action Programme" at which point the Environmental Unit was formed (named Directorate General for the Environment in 1981). The policy has thereafter evolved "to cover a vast landscape of different topics enacted over many decades" (Reuters[1]) and in 2015 the Institute for European Environmental Policy estimated that "the body of EU environmental law" amounted to 500+ directives, regulations and decisions.[2]

Development of CO2 emissions in the European Union.
CO2 emissions per capita in the European Union.

"Over the past decades the European Union has put in place a broad range of environmental legislation. As a result, air, water and soil pollution has significantly been reduced. Chemicals legislation has been modernised and the use of many toxic or hazardous substances has been restricted. Today, EU citizens enjoy some of the best water quality in the world" (European Commission, EAP 2020[3])

History

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Start at the Paris summit 1972

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The Paris Summit meeting of heads of state and government of the European Economic Community (EEC) in October 1972 is often used to pin point the beginning of the EU's environmental policy.[4] A declaration on environmental and consumer policy was adopted at this summit which requested the European Commission to draw up an action programme for environmental protection. This (first) Environmental Action Programme was adopted in July 1973 and represented the EU's first environmental policy.[5] Furthermore, the task force within the Commission that drew up this action programme eventually led to the formation of a Directorate General for the Environment.

The primary reason at that time for the introduction of a common environmental policy was the concern that diverse environmental standards could result in trade barriers and competitive distortions in the Common Market.[6] Different national standards for particular products, such as limitations on vehicle emissions for the lead content of petrol, posed significant barriers to the free trade of these products within the Economic Community (EC). An additional motivation driving the EU's emerging environmental policy was the increasing international politicisation of environmental problems and the growing realisation from the beginning of the 1970s that environmental pollution did not stop at national borders, but had to be addressed by cross-border measures.[7] At that time there was no mention of environmental policy in the founding treaties of the EU and therefore no explicit Treaty basis which underpinned EU environmental policy. However, the Treaty text was interpreted dynamically, enabling environmental policy to be regarded as an essential goal of the Community, even though it was not explicitly mentioned. It was not until the middle of the 1980s and the signing of the Single European Act in 1986 that economic and ecological objectives were put on a more equal footing within the Community.[8]

Numerous actors involved

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EU environmental policy is shaped by a variety of actors including all of the main EU institutions as well as lobby groups which makeup the wider Brussels policy making community.

Member states shape EU environmental policy by working within the Council of Ministers. The council is a central actor in decision making in the EU sharing its decision-making power with the European Parliament under the 'ordinary legislative procedure'.[9] There are different Council formations (made up of ministers responsible for particular policy areas) one of which is the Environment Council. The number of Environment Council meetings has increased significantly over time. Heads of state meet in something different – the European Council – which until recently had very little to do with environmental policy. However, more recently the European Council has played an important role in EU climate change policy in particular.[10]

The European Commission not only has an exclusive right to propose new environmental policy, but it also has a responsibility to ensure the implementation of environmental rules. Therefore, since its creation in the 1950s the European Commission has been at the heart of the European Union. However, it did not set up a unit dedicated to environmental issues until the 1970s and a full Directorate General for the environment until 1981.[11] Initially DG Environment was perceived as a relatively weak DG but it has gradually become more assertive through the development of technical and political expertise. However, the Commission still has to depend on member states to implement its policies.

Traditionally, the European Parliament gained a reputation as a champion of environmental interests within the EU where it provided an access point for those excluded from decision making and a voice for green political parties.[12] However, it was a reactive and relatively weak institution. More recently the Parliament has benefited from treaty changes that have made it a co-legislator with the Council of Ministers. However, the empowerment of the Parliament seems to have reduced its green credentials as it now appears less willing to adopt green amendments.[13]

Over the last 40 years the EU has attracted the interest of a vast number of lobby groups including environmental NGOs. As early as 1974, environmental groups from all the member states established a central representation in Brussels, founding the European Environmental Bureau. Other environmental NGOs only set up shop in Brussels from the late 1980s onwards.[14] European institutions, especially the European Commission, provide relatively easy access to these groups compared to some national governments.[15] The European Commission has even actively encouraged their participation in policy making by setting up consultative committees and other bodies, and providing funds to establish and maintain certain core groups.[16]

A complex policy processes

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Policy making in the EU can be complex. It has been suggested that the policy making process is too densely populated with veto players (i.e. actors whose agreement is necessary for a policy to be adopted) for any single actor or group of actors (including the EU's member states) to consistently control the direction of policy making.[17] The result in environmental policy making has been widely depicted as being especially unpredictable, unstable and at times even chaotic. However, the European Commission, as a key player in the policy making process, has under pressure to develop 'standard operating procedures' for processing policy.[18] This has led to a number of changes in policy making processes in recent years, including: adopting minimum standards of consultation; the impact assessment of all major policy proposals; and the earlier publication of its work programmes.[19]

The focus of EU environmental policy making has also changed in recent years concentrating more on updating existing policies than on building-up the EU's role in environmental policy.[20] In the 1970s and 1980s EU environmental policy was marked by the rapid build-up of a body of legislation that covered a range of issues previously not dealt with at EU level. Since the 1980s, other new issues have been taken up but in addition an increasing proportion of the environmental agenda has been taken up by debates on the revision of existing legislation. As a result, the proportion of EU environmental legislation that amends previous laws has steadily increased over time. Consequently, for most environmental issues, the key question is no longer: 'should the EU be involved?’ but 'what should the EU be doing?’ And the logic for getting the issue on the EU political agenda is no longer to make the EU take it up but to change existing policies (strengthening or weakening them, depending on a political actor's objectives). This change in both the stakes of and the key struggle in agenda setting strategies, marks a shift from 'new issues' to 'ongoing or recurring concerns'.[20]

In its policy making processes the EU has made a sizeable effort to undertake a particular type of policy coordination, namely the integration of environmental considerations into the operation of all policy sectors. The potential of environmental policy integration is undoubtedly ambitious: economically powerful sectors such as agriculture, energy and transport should 'design out' environmental problems in the development of their own policies.[21] However, it has proven much harder to implement than many had originally expected, not least those working in the European Commission's environment directorate-general. A significant causal factor here has been the EU's fragmented institutional and political structure, which on the one hand has facilitated the adoption of visionary policy objectives, but has also undermined their implementation.[22]

Implementation is very much at the 'sharp end' of the EU policy process. The success of EU policies – and with them the whole integration project – are often judged by the impacts they have on the ground. If, however, the acquis (the body of EU law) is not fully implemented, EU policies risk becoming paper exercises with little tangible effect on environmental quality but serious distorting impacts on the Single Market.[23] The implementation of policy in the EU is widely regarded as being problematic.[24] Yet, both public and academic understanding of this crucial stage of the EU policy process remains relatively limited. Indeed, for a long time, a number of factors kept the whole issue of poor implementation down or off the political agenda, but today it is much more politicised, pushed along by the campaigning activities of NGOs and pro-integration actors such as the European Parliament. A whole host of solutions to the EU's implementation problems have been offered, some of which could, if deployed, even compound the problem. But in many respects, the causes of poor (or at least imperfect) implementation reside in the very structure of the EU. Consequently, there are likely to be no panaceas.

To develop new environmental policies, it is important first to evaluate those that have already been adopted. However, this intuitively simple idea is difficult to apply in practice, no more so than in the EU where the complex system of multi-level governance adds considerably to the practical difficulty of evaluating policies.[25] Assessing impacts and finding side-effects of policies is best achieved by a plurality of data, methods, analysts and theories, as well as evaluation criteria. In recent years the demand for evaluations of EU policies and programmes has increased as the importance of evaluation has become more widely recognised. Many actors have become involved in commissioning, producing and using evaluations (including the European Environment Agency), but the role of evaluation is often still quite weak.

Synergic to the environmental policy in Europe is the European environmental research and innovation policy. It aims at defining and implementing a transformative agenda to greening the economy and the society as a whole so to achieve a truly sustainable development.

Global influence

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The EU is an important – even an 'influential'[26] – actor in international environmental negotiations. Therefore, if one wants to understand the processes and outcomes of international environmental negotiations, one needs to be familiar with the role that the EU plays. Also, developments at the international level have an influence on the EU, its policies and the extent to which it can be a global actor. Hence, European and international environmental politics and policies are constantly interacting and thus mutually constitutive.[27]

The EU is a party to all major Multi-lateral Environmental Agreements covering a whole variety of environmental issues. The EU is also able to fully participate in international environmental negotiations, either as an observer in the UN context or as a party to the mother treaty in various Conference of the parties (COPs) and Meeting of the Parties (MOPs). The EU is often observed as a leader in global environmental politics, but its leadership role can nowadays also be questioned, especially in the area of climate change. The EU's international climate change policy consists of three building blocks (environmental integrity, multilateralism, a legally binding instrument), which are under pressure in the context of the current climate change negotiations. As in other areas of external action, the EU's external environmental policy is often characterised by a mismatch between its ambitions and its ability to deliver in practice.

Even environmental measures that are not part of international agreements and have effect only in the territory of the union, sometimes have big international effects. For example, in 2022 The European parliament approved a very important bill aiming to stop the import linked with deforestation. The bill requires from companies who want to import 14 products: soy, beef, palm oil, timber, cocoa, coffee, pork, lamb, goat meat, poultry, rubber, charcoal,[28] and printed paper to the European Union to prove the production of those commodities is not linked to areas deforested after 31 of December 2019. Without it the import will be forbidden. The bill may cause to Brazil, for example, to stop deforestation for agricultural production and begun to "increase productivity on existing agricultural land".[29]

Environmental protection

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When the EEC was established, environmental protection, let alone the broader concept of sustainable development, was not perceived as an important policy issue. The concept of sustainable development contains environmental, social and economic dimensions; finding practical ways to balance the three is widely regarded as a key challenge. The EU policies in the field of sustainable development evolved as a result of the interaction between internal political drivers and the EU's response to a number of key UN conferences.[30] One such influential conference was the first UN Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm in 1972. This not only addressed the environmental concerns of the industrialised countries in the North, but also, the development concerns of countries in the South. Sustainable development was only mentioned in European Council Conclusions for the first time in 1988. Wavering political support for 'sustained growth' and/or 'sustainable development' continued for some years and reveals just how ambivalent attitudes were to the concept.[31] The 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam eventually ensured the formal recognition of sustainable development as a legal objective under the Treaties. Subsequently, the EU's commitment to sustainable development was formalised as one of the EU's fundamental goals.

In 1997, the EU committed itself to draw up a 'national' strategy for sustainable development by 2002. The Commission published a Communication on a European Union Strategy for Sustainable Development in 2001 which was discussed at the Göteborg European Council.[32] However, this strategy suffered from several governance weaknesses which inhibited its implementation. In particular, the Strategy has been heavily affected by its ambiguous relationship to the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs, which has received far higher political priority.[31]

The political and institutional crisis that faced the EU in 2005 after the rejection of the EU Constitution, pushed the Sustainable Development Strategy back up the political agenda. A 'renewed' SDS was subsequently adopted by the EU Council in 2006. The renewed strategy contained more detailed arrangements for implementation, monitoring and follow-up.

The legal formalisation of the EU's commitment to sustainable development as a policy objective was completed by the Lisbon Treaty. Sustainable development is now repeatedly mentioned in the Treaties: as a basic objective of the EU in the new Article 3 TEU; in Article 21 TEU concerning the external action of the Union; and in Article 11 TFEU setting out the integration principle. The EU is now legally committed to pursue sustainable development both internally and externally (i.e. in its relations with 'the wider world').

This legal commitment led to the setting up of an impact assessment process to be done ex ante, i.e. before the fact, to ensure that all future EU legislation would conform to the principles of sustainable development as laid down in the EU Strategy for Sustainable Development. In fact, multiple processes of impact assessment emerged: Commission-wide Impact Assessment for all future EU legislation,[33] Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) for DG Trade[34][35] and Integrated Sustainability Assessment (ISA) as envisioned in EU-funded research projects such as MATISSE, In-Context and VISION RD4SD, which has been recommended for consideration as a methodology for future global assessments.[36]

Free trade challenges to EU environmental policy

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See also: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership § Environment protection and climate change, and European Union–Mercosur free trade agreement § Opposition
 
The European Union–Mercosur free trade agreement, which would form one of the world's largest free trade areas, has been denounced by environmental activists and indigenous rights campaigners.

A draft of the sustainable development section of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US was leaked to The Guardian in October 2015. Asked to comment on the document, a French environmental attorney described the proposed environmental safeguards as "virtually non-existent" by comparison with the protection granted to investors, and that environmental cases accounted for 60% of the 127 ISDS cases already brought against EU countries under bilateral trade agreements in the last two decades, according to Friends of the Earth Europe.[37] According to Joseph E. Stiglitz, TTIP could have a "chilling" effect on regulation and thus "undercut urgently needed action on climate that the Paris Agreement requires".[38]

The draft energy chapter of the TTIP was leaked to The Guardian in July 2016. This draft could sabotage European efforts to implement mandatory energy savings measures and to favour the switch to renewable electricity generation.[39]

Policy key components

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The Environmental policy range from subjects such as Water to Tackling climate change, Air, Chemicals, Nature & biodiversity, Noise, Soil & forests, Waste, Coastal & marine environment, Industry & pollution and Environmental agencies/controls.[40] It is formulated through Environment Action Programmes (EAP)[41] out of which there are eight published to date;

  • 1st – Programme of Action of the European Communities on the Environment (1973–1976)
  • 2nd – European Community Action Programme on the Environment (1977–1981)
  • 3rd – Action Programme of the European Communities on the Environment (1982–1986)
  • 4th – EEC Fourth Environmental Action Program (1987–1992)
  • 5th – Community programme of policy and action in relation to the environment and sustainable development (1993–2000)
  • 6th – the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme (2002–2012)
  • 7th – the Seventh Environment Action Programme (2014–2020)[42]
  • 8th – the Eight Environment Action Programme until 2030, "builds on the European Green Deal" (2021–)[43]

Policy examples

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The European environmental research and innovation policy

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The European environmental research and innovation policy aims at promoting research and innovation for building a resource-efficient and climate-resilient society and economy in sync with the natural environment. Research and innovation in Europe are financially supported by the programme Horizon 2020, which is also open to participation worldwide.[44]

The Water Framework Directive and the Birds Directive

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The Water Framework Directive is an example of a water policy which aimed for rivers, lakes, ground and coastal waters to be of "good quality" by 2015.[45] The Birds Directive established as early as 1979[46] and the Habitats Directive are pieces of European Union legislation for protection of biodiversity and natural habitats. These protections however only directly cover animals and plants; fungi and micro-organisms have no protection under European Union law.[47] The directives are implemented through the Natura 2000 programme and covers 30,000 sites throughout Europe.[45]

The Environmental Crime Directive

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The Environmental Crime Directive[48] is a 2008 instrument aimed at protecting the environment through the use of criminal law. After over a decade from its publication, as part of the European Green Deal,the European Commission submitted a proposal for a new Directive with the aim of strengthening the enforcement and prosecution of environmental crimes through the use of clearer definitions and sanctions other than the typical fines and imprisonment.[49]

Nature restoration law

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This section is an excerpt from Nature Restoration Law.[edit]

The Nature Restoration Law is a regulation of the European Union to protect the EU environments and restore its nature to a good ecological state through renaturation. The law is a core element of the European Green Deal and the EU Biodiversity Strategy and makes the targets set therein for the "restoration of nature" binding.[50] EU member states will have to develop their national restoration plans by 2026.[51] They will have to restore at least 30% of habitats in poor condition by 2030, 60% by 2040, and 90% by 2050.[52][53][54]

The regulation is a response to Europe's declining natural environments, with more than 80% of habitats in poor condition.[50] Its goals include protecting the functioning of ecosystem services, climate change mitigation, resilience and autonomy by preventing natural disasters and reducing risks to food security,[50] and restoring damaged ecosystems.[51]

The regulation was proposed by the European Commission on 22 June 2022.[55] The law was adopted in the Council of the European Union on 17 June 2024[60] and was published in the EU's Official Journal on 29 July 2024, thus coming into force on 18 August 2024 (20th day after publication).[61]

The representative of Austria, Leonore Gewessler, voted against the will of its government and can face up to 10 years in prison for doing so.[62][63] Gewessler had previously been unable to support the law due to unanimous opposition from Austria's nine states, however Vienna and Carinthia withdrew opposition following changes to the proposed law without explicitly shifting the unanimous stance.[64]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Environmental Law and Practice in the European Union: Overview by Michael Coxall and Kirsty Souter, Clifford Chance LLP".
  2. ^ "The European environment – state and outlook 2015 – synthesis report".
  3. ^ "Environment Action Programme to 2020".
  4. ^ Knill, C.; Liefferink, D. (12 November 2012). "The Establishment of EU Environmental Policy.". Environmental Policy in the EU. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203109823. ISBN 978-0-203-10982-3.
  5. ^ Hildebrand, P.M. (1993) The European Community's environmental policy, 1957 to '1992', in D. Judge (ed) A Green Dimension for the European Community, Frank Cass, London, pp13-44.
  6. ^ Johnson, S.P. and Corcelle, G. (1989) The Environmental Policy of the European Communities, Graham & Trotman, London.
  7. ^ Knill, C. and Liefferink, D. (2012) The Establishment of EU Environmental Policy. In: Jordan, A.J. and C. Adelle (ed.) Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3e). Earthscan: London and Sterling, VA.
  8. ^ McCormick, J. (2001) Environmental Policy in the European Union. Palgrave: Basingstoke.
  9. ^ Lewis, J. (2010) 'The Council of European Union', in M. Cini and N. Pérez-Solórzano Borragán (eds) European Union Politics, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp141-61.
  10. ^ Rüdiger K. and Wurzel, W. (2012) Member States and the Council. In: Jordan, A.J. and C. Adelle (ed.) (2012) Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3e). Earthscan: London and Sterling, VA.
  11. ^ Schön-Quinlivan (2012)The European Commission, In: Jordan, A.J. and Adelle, C. (eds) Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3e). Earthscan: London and Sterling, VA.
  12. ^ Meyer, J.-H. (2011): Green Activism. The European Parliament's Environmental Committee promoting a European Environmental Policy in the 1970s. In: Journal of European Integration History vol. 17, no. 1, S. 73-85, ISSN 0947-9511, S. 73-85, available from: http://www.eu-historians.eu/uploads/Dateien/jeih-33-2011_1.pdf Archived 21 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Burns, C. and Carter, N. (2010a) 'Is codecision good for the environment?’ Political Studies, vol 58, no 1, pp128-142.
  14. ^ Meyer, J.-H. 2013. Challenging the Atomic Community. The European Environmental Bureau and the Europeanization of Anti-Nuclear Protest. In Societal Actors in European Integration. Polity-Building and Policy-Making 1958-1992, edited by W. Kaiser and J.-H. Meyer. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 197-220.
  15. ^ Adelle, C. and Anderson, J. (2012) Lobby Groups. In: Jordan, A.J. and C. Adelle (ed.) Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3e). Earthscan: London and Sterling, VA.
  16. ^ Eising, R. and Lehringer, S. (2010) 'Interest groups and the European Union', in M. Cini and N. Pérez-Solórzano Borragán (eds) European Union Politics, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp189-206.
  17. ^ Weale, A. (2005). "Environmental rules and rule-making in the European Union". In Jordan, Andrew (ed.). Environmental policy in the European Union. London Sterling, VA: Earthscan. pp. 125–140. ISBN 1-84407-158-8. OCLC 59756059.
  18. ^ Mazey, S., Richardson, J. (1992) 'Environmental groups and the EC: Challenges and opportunities', Environmental Politics, vol 1, no 4, p110.
  19. ^ Adelle, C., Jordan, A., and Turnpenny, J. (2012) Policy Making. In: Jordan, A.J. and C. Adelle (ed.) Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3e). Earthscan: London and Sterling, VA.
  20. ^ a b Princen, S. (2012) Agenda Setting. In: Jordan, A.J. and C. Adelle (ed.) Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3e). Earthscan: London and Sterling, VA.
  21. ^ Lenschow, A. (2002) Environmental Integration. Earthscan: London.
  22. ^ Jordan, A., Schout, A. and Unfried, M. (2012) Policy Coordination. In: Jordan, A.J. and C. Adelle (ed.) Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3e). Earthscan: London and Sterling, VA.
  23. ^ Jordan, A., and Tosun, J. (2012) Policy Implementation. In: Jordan, A.J. and C. Adelle (ed.) Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3e). Earthscan: London and Sterling, VA.
  24. ^ Jordan, A. (1999)'The implementation of EU environmental policy: a problem without a political solution?' Environmental and Planning C, vol. 17, no. 1, pp69-90.
  25. ^ Mickwitz, P.(2012) Policy Evaluation. In: Jordan, A.J. and C. Adelle (ed.) Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3e). Earthscan: London and Sterling, VA.
  26. ^ Rhinard, M. andKaeding, M. (2006) The international bargaining power of the European Union in "mixed" competence negotiations: the case of the 2000 Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Journal of Common Market Studies, vol. 48, no. 4, pp. 923–943.
  27. ^ Delreux, T.(2012) The EU as an Actor in global environmental politics. In: Jordan, A.J. and C. Adelle (ed.) Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3e). Earthscan: London and Sterling, VA.
  28. ^ Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council
  29. ^ Schröder, André (15 September 2022). "European bill passes to ban imports of deforestation-linked commodities". Mongabay. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  30. ^ Pallemaerts, M.and Azmanova, A.(eds)(2006) The European Union and Sustainable Development: Internal and external dimensions. VUB Press: Brussels.
  31. ^ a b Pallemaerts, M.(2012) Developing more Sustainably? In: Jordan, A.J. and C. Adelle (ed.) Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3e). Earthscan: London and Sterling, VA.
  32. ^ An outline of the European Union Strategy for Sustainable Development, proposed in Helsinki in 1999 can be found in European Commission (2001): A Sustainable Europe for a Better World: A European Union Strategy for Sustainable Development, Report No. COM(2001)264 final [1]
  33. ^ See publication by Ruddy/Hilty under Regulatory Impact Analysis
  34. ^ See the special issue edited by Clive George, Bernice Goldsmith (2006): Introduction: Impact assessment of trade-related policies and agreements: experience and challenges, Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 254-258, doi:doi:10.3152/147154606781765075
  35. ^ George, Clive (2010): The Truth about Trade: The Real Impact of Liberalization
  36. ^ Integrated sustainability assessment: what is it, why do it and how? P. M. Weaver, J. Rotmans (eds.), International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, Vol. 1, No. 4. (2006), pp. 284-303
  37. ^ Nielsen, Arthur (23 October 2015). "TTIP: EU negotiators appear to break environmental pledge in leaked draft". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  38. ^ Stiglitz, Joseph E (23 April 2016). "TTIP and Climate Change: A Tale of Two Cities from Paris to Hannover". Süddeutsche Zeitung. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  39. ^ Neslen, Arthur (11 July 2016). "Leaked TTIP energy proposal could 'sabotage' EU climate policy". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  40. ^ "Environment and climate change – EUR-Lex". eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  41. ^ "WECOOP EU Environment Policy".
  42. ^ "EU Commission on Environment Action Programme to 2020".
  43. ^ "NEWS ARTICLE2 December 2021Directorate-General for Environment Commission welcomes political agreement on the 8th Environment Action Programme".
  44. ^ See Horizon 2020 – the EU's new research and innovation programme http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-1085_en.htm
  45. ^ a b Dimas, Stavros (23 March 2007). "Celebrating the Environmental Union". BBC News. Retrieved 15 August 2007.
  46. ^ Jan-Henrik Meyer 2010. Saving Migrants: a Transnational Network supporting Supranational Bird Protection Policy in the 1970's. In Transnational Networks in Regional Integration. Informal Governance in Europe 1945-83, edited by W. Kaiser, M. Gehler and B. Leucht. Basingstoke. Palgrave, 176-198.
  47. ^ "Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora". Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  48. ^ Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on the protection of the environment through criminal law, OJ L 328.
  49. ^ European Commission Questions and Answers on the revised EU Directive on environmental crime
  50. ^ a b c "The EU #NatureRestoration Law". environment.ec.europa.eu. 12 July 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  51. ^ a b "State of the Union: EU top jobs and Nature Restoration law". euronews. 21 June 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  52. ^ "Nature restoration: Parliament adopts law to restore 20% of EU's land and sea | News | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  53. ^ "Nature restoration". Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  54. ^ a b Manzanaro, Sofia Sanchez (17 June 2024). "EU countries rubberstamp Nature Restoration Law after months of deadlock". www.euractiv.com. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  55. ^ "Nature restoration law - European Commission". environment.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  56. ^ "Österreich gab bei Ja zu Renaturierungsgesetz den Ausschlag, Nehammer kündigt Nichtigkeitsklage an". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  57. ^ "EU ministers approve contested Nature Restoration Law – DW – 06/17/2024". dw.com. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  58. ^ Petrequin, Samuel (17 June 2024). "EU approves landmark nature restoration plan despite months of protests by farmers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  59. ^ "Nature restoration law: Council gives final green light". Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  60. ^ [56][57][58][54][59]
  61. ^ "2022/0195(COD)". Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  62. ^ "EU ministers approve contested Nature Restoration Law". Deutsche Welle. 17 June 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  63. ^ J. Kurmayer, Nikolaus (17 June 2024). "Nature restoration: Austrian conservatives charge Gewessler for abuse of office". Euractive. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  64. ^ Ajit Niranjan (17 June 2024). "EU passes law to restore 20% of bloc's land and sea by end of decade". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
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