External Environmental Policy

2021 ◽  
pp. 316-358
Author(s):  
Jan Wouters ◽  
Frank Hoffmeister ◽  
Geert De Baere ◽  
Thomas Ramopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
International Protection ◽  
Environmental Negotiations ◽  
Internal Struggle ◽  
The Eu

This chapter recalls how the EU started to become engaged in the international protection of the environment. It explains in detail the ECJ case law on the choice of legal basis under EU law when an international agreement contains both aspects of commercial policy and environmental protection. It also analyses the internal struggle between the EU institutions on how to conduct international environmental negotiations. The chapter includes a case study about the EU’s role in combating climate change and underlines the important contribution of the EU in the operation of numerous international environmental conventions.

Title XX Environment

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sacha Garben
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Common Concern ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
Dense Set ◽  
The Eu

The environment does not respect man-made borders, and is of common concern and interest of all mankind. As such, it is an area that merits and requires cross-border law and policy making par excellence. This should be reflected in the strong role played by the EU, which has a firm Treaty mandate and duty to protect the environment, features a rich body of case law, and boasts a dense set of secondary legislation. The very good reasons for this notwithstanding, it remains a remarkable development considering the absence of any reference to the environment in the original Treaties. Although a programme for action in this area was soon adopted in 1973, only in the 1986 SEA was an environmental legal basis introduced. Much of the initial environmental acquis was therefore developed by the Commission, the Council, and later the EP on the basis of other Treaty provisions, such as (now) Articles 114, 115, and 352 TFEU. EU environmental protection also owes a debt to the ECJ, which included it in the legitimate objectives on the basis of which MS could derogate from the free movement provisions. The Court has interpreted the provisions of EU environmental law generally in a protective manner, and endorsed the use of criminal law for the effective enforcement of EU environmental legislation.

22. Environment and Climate

2020 ◽  
pp. 414-430
Author(s):  
Simon Bulmer ◽  
Owen Parker ◽  
Ian Bache ◽  
Stephen George ◽  
Charlotte Burns
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Policy Sector ◽  
Single European Act ◽  
Environmental Diplomacy ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the evolution of the European Union’s (EU) environmental policy. The environment is a relatively new policy area of the EU. It was not officially created until 1973 and acquired a sound legal basis in the Treaties only with the passage of the Single European Act (SEA) in 1987. When the EU was established, environmental issues were low on the political agenda. However, they have become increasingly important at both national and European levels, and there is now a comprehensive environmental policy at the EU level and the EU has developed a reputation as an environmental leader in international environmental diplomacy, especially on climate change. The chapter first explains the main drivers for the development of the EU’s environmental policy, before discussing recent developments, and some of the major issues of current concern. It concludes by evaluating the theoretical leverage of the key integration theories for explaining and critiquing this policy sector.

scholarly journals IMPLEMENTING EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND TURKEY: THE COST AND EXPENDITURES OF THE POLICY COMPLIANCE

2021 ◽  
pp. 86-101
Author(s):  
DİLARA SÜLÜN
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
European Union ◽  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Kyoto Protocol ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Environmental Policy ◽  
The Eu

This paper examines the European environmental policy and the tools that the European Union (EU) uses for the aim of protecting the environment. Environmental policy is of crucial importance indeed as it has direct impact on human’s health, on the quality of environment, on the well-being of all living creatures and species and on the preservation of our natural resources around the world. The EU is quite active in environmental protection policy making and the scope of her environmental policy expanded with time, including nowadays many aspects such as air, water and soil pollution, waste management, protection of the environment, industrial pollution, chemicals, climate change and noise pollution. The methodology of the study consists of the review and analysis of primary and secondary sources regarding EU legislation on European environmental policy. The requirements of environmental policy are exposed and evaluated at the European level and other international engagements at the global level such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement are also evaluated in our paper. European statistics and reports are evaluated to provide a good understanding and assessment of the relation between governments and corporations’ expenditures and the protection of environment in EU member states and in Turkey. Our paper also includes the implementation of the European environmental policy in Turkey, therefore Turkish of􀏐icial policy alignment and compliance is explained with data related to EU funded projects implemented by Turkish institutions. Regarding the relation between expenditures and environment, our 􀏐indings indicate a reverse causality effect; the quality of the environment determines the level of public expenditures indeed, and not vice-versa. As analyzed in our paper, governments and corporations’ investments related to environmental protection are quite low and they are in decline, this share needs to be increased both at the EU level and in Turkey. Key Words: European Union Environmental Policy, Climate Change, Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement, Government Expenditures on Environmental Policy.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND CSR IN PETROLEUM REFINING COMPANIES IN GREECE: CONTENT AND GLOBAL REPORTING INITIATIVE (GRI) ANALYSIS

2016 ◽  
pp. 1650013
Author(s):  
THEODORE METAXAS ◽  
MARIA TSAVDARIDOU
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Petroleum Refining ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Environmental Footprint ◽  
High Importance ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
Corporate Social

The environmental policy and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are two notions of high importance for enterprises and nations. Numerous pages have been written about the environmental policy of companies in their CSR reports. Whether it concerns to raise environmental awareness among their employees or local communities or to give in detail their environmental footprint at the end of the story it is about giving proofs of their environmental policy. Climate change is among the topics of CSR reports and is under examination in this paper. A case study analysis will be applied in order to present how climate change is interpreted in the CSR reports of Greek companies from the petroleum refining industry.

Part VI Actors, Ch.37 Regional Organizations the European Union

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maljean-Dubois Sandrine
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
General Question ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Regional Organizations ◽  
Environmental Negotiations ◽  
The Eu

This chapter addresses the European Union (EU) as a preeminent example of a regional organization and its role in international environmental law. It first examines the progressive affirmation of EU competence in the environmental field and its development of a distinctive environmental policy. The chapter then turns to the external dimension of EU environmental competence, discussing the EU's participation in and enforcement of international environmental law, as well as the general question of whether the EU can be said to have an external environmental policy. The EU internal environmental policy expands on the international stage. Even if it lacks the internal structures and resources fully and effectively to assume a role as a global environmental leader, the EU participates in environmental negotiations, concludes and implements international treaties, and exercises its ‘soft power’ to promote the development and implementation of international environmental law. The chapter concludes with some brief reflections on other regional organizations and their distinctions from the largely sui generis EU example.

Accounting for Climate Change: Rethinking the Chaotic Corporate Reporting Landscape and Its Purpose, with the UK’s Failure as a Case Study

2020 ◽  
pp. 69-100
Author(s):  
Charlotte Villiers ◽  
Georgina Tsagas
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Company Law ◽  
Corporate Reporting ◽  
Current State ◽  
Legal Consequences

The chapter considers whether company law and corporate governance-related initiatives provide effective mechanisms for holding corporations to account for their contribution to climate change. A key regulatory device targeted at corporations is disclosure, the goal of which, in this context, is to achieve greater transparency regarding the risks and opportunities connected to climate change. The chapter explores to what extent climate change-related reporting contributes to the efforts towards reducing global warming. It is argued that there are a number of significant problems with climate-related reporting in its current state, in so far as there are many different requirements, including standards, codes, guidelines, at industry or sector level as well as at national and international levels; all these combined create a chaotic reporting landscape. Moreover, there is no meaningful link between the disclosures required under company law and initiatives within the area of environmental protection; hence it becomes difficult to identify clearly what the key reporting information is and what the responses and possible legal consequences of any such disclosures should be. Consequently, corporations’ accountability for their contribution to climate change is open to question.

scholarly journals The “New” Environmental Policy Of The European Union: A Path To Development Of A Circular Economy And Mitigation Of The Negative Effects Of Climate Change

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zofia Wysokińska
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
European Union ◽  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
Carbon Economy ◽  
The Eu

This paper analyses the evolution of the new environmental policy of the European Union in the context of the efforts undertaken to moderate the negative effects of climate change. It describes all the activities in the European Union designed to implement new tools of the EU environmental policy, such as low carbon economy technologies, tools that improve the efficiency of managing the limited natural resources, the environmentally friendly transport package, etc. All of them are aimed at laying the foundations of the circular economy, which may also be referred to as a closed-loop economy, i.e., an economy that does not generate excessive waste and whereby any waste becomes a resource.

If You Are Not Part of the Solution, You Are the Problem: Article 37 of the EU Charter as a Defence for Climate Change and Environmental Measures in Investor-State Arbitrations – Joint 2nd Prize Winner Essay competition 2020

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 265-295
Author(s):  
Florence Humblet ◽  
Kabir Duggal
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Environmental Measures ◽  
The Eu

Climate change is severely impacting the survival of humankind on earth. In the European Union (EU), the Charter of Fundamental Rights (EU Charter) codifies environmental protection as part of the EU’s corpus of fundamental rights protection and states that “a high level of environmental protection and the improvement of the quality of the environment must be integrated into the policies of the EU and ensured in accordance with the principle of sustainable development”. By virtue of this article, the EU has elevated environmental protection to the level of constitutionality. Environmental concerns have played a critical role in investor-state arbitration. This article submits that Article 37 of the EU Charter might be a viable defence for Member States of the EU (Member States) that adopt climate change and environmental measures. Such defence would not consist of a jurisdictional challenge based on the Achmea decision but of a defence based on the applicable law which protects the notion of sustainable investment enshrined in the applicable international investment agreement. Article 37 of the EU Charter could, therefore, operate a powerful tool to foster environmental protection in investor-state disputes and, therefore, address one of the most widespread complaints in the backlash against investor-state arbitration.

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