The main objectives of the research carried out were identification of the strength of – and trends characterising – the impact of EU law and policy on spatial planning and territorial governance in Member States, in relation to selected environmental issues; as well as an attempt to determine geographical regularities. The first issue analysed issue concerned the impact of EU environmental law on Member States’ spatial planning, while the second sought to demonstrate the importance of major EU policies in relation to their environmental objectives. A third aspect saw impact (“clout” ) assessed and trends identified where two environmental priorities under EU policies were concerned, i.e. (I) the strengthening of ecological structures and cultural resources as added value for development, (II) sustainable growth – promoting a more resource efficient, greener and more competitive economy. Most attention was paid to the top-down impact of the EU on spatial planning and territorial governance, though studies als sought examples of bottom-up and horizontal influence as signalled by national experts. This article is based on the results of the ESPON COMPASS project entitled: Comparative Analysis of Territorial Governance and Spatial Planning Systems in Europe. Analysis of the very extensive questionnaire material available, as well as the results of the case studies, resulted in an acknowledgment that the top-down influence determines the impacts of EU environmental law and policy on Member States’ spatial planning. In sum, that impact of the EU environmental law was identifiable as quite strong at all levels of planning. Indeed, trends for an increasing influence applied to the vast majority of countries. There were three regularities identified in this respect: (I) it is a strong impact and increasing clout that prevail to a significant degree among EU-15 countries, (II) a constant impact is characteristic for the vast majority of the Nordic countries, and in both cases is mainly an aspect of countries caring for the quality of the environment, (III) the greatest variation in terms of the strengths and irections of impact can be identified within the group of post-communist countries, even as there is a prevalence of upward trends noted in these countries. Among the EU environmental regulations exerting the greatest impact on the spatial planning and territorial governance of the Member States, the ones highlighted most frequently were the Directives on environmental assessments (EIA and SEA), as well as the so-called Habitats and Birds Directives. In seeking to summarise the strength of impact of the selected EU environmental policy priorities on Member States’ spatial planning and territorial governance – as well as the trends for that impact – the largest group of countries pointed to an upward trend and a moderate impact. However, results obtained offered no basis for the identification of clear regularities However, the Europeanisation of environmental law and policy was shown also to have a significant impact on the Europeanisation of environmental spatial planning. It also proved possible to demonst ate how spatial planning, although constituting a reserved domain of each country, is actually the most Europeanised of all environmental issues. With regard to the top-down impact of environmental law, i.e. that exerted from the EU level down to the spatial planning and territorial governance of the Member States, the adoption of the acquis communautaire is to be indicated as the main reason for the significant impact. Equally, when it came to the impact of environmental policy, it was usual for a strong link with Cohesion Policy to be identified. The article also offers recommendations regarding the development of a more-effective connection between Cohesion Policy and spatial planning and territorial governance, in the sphere of the protection and strengthening of countries’ natural and cultural heritage.
EU environmental law and policy post-Brexit: models for engagement between the EU27 and the UK
