Environmental Liability:

the difficulties in harmonizing liability for environmental harm in the EU

In April 2004, Directive 2004/35 was promulgated establishing a framework for environmental liability based on the ʻpolluter paysʼ principle, with a view to preventing and remedying environmental damage. The Directive is the result of a long-running discussion on the usefulness of civil liability as a means of allocating the responsibility for environmental costs, on the various options to be taken into consideration, and on the various legislative systems that needed to be analyzed in order to have a comparative law perspective. The lecture will discuss:

1. the situation at national level before the entrance into force of Directive 2004/35;
2. the institutional steps taken by the European Commission in order to elaborate the text of the Directive;
3. the main features of the Directive; and
4. the process of assessing the remaining differences at national level

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Speaker

Dr. Barbara Pozzo 

Barbara Pozzo is a Professor of Comparative Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Insubria in Como (Italy) since 2001, where she teaches Comparative Legal Systems,  Comparative Law and Language and Legal Translation. She is the Coordinator of two initiatives: “Law and Cinema” and “Law and Literature” as methodologies to approach comparative law for students of other faculties (in particular: for the students of “Cultural and Linguistic Mediation”). She is the Director of the Summer School Program in Comparative Environmental Law, in association with UC Davis Law School, and approved by the American Bar Association.

Environmental Law Lecture Series

This lecture is part of the Environmental Law Lecture Series: Strengthening EU Environmental Law, Legal Perspectives on Greening Europe series. This series provides a set of important insights from environmental law scholars on how EU environmental law helps to achieve the aim of a high level of environmental protection in the European Union and across the world.

With the European Green Deal from 11 December 2019 the European Commission tabled an ambitious legislative program, based on fundamental aims such as zero pollution, do no harm, and climate neutrality. Many legal developments took place and are still ongoing, both at the European and national regulatory levels as in the courtroom, including the national courts. While efforts to protect the environment are direly needed, including effective implementation and enforcement, the regulatory acquis, and the flow of case law, has become utterly complex which poses challenges for acquiring a good understanding and application.

This freely accessible online (and hybrid) lecture series provides students and scholars with core insights into the state of affairs and further improvement of EU environmental law. The lecture series will run in 2023 and 2024. All lectures will be recorded and will be made accessible through our YouTube channel.

This GreenDeal-Net lecture series is hosted by MCEL, METRO and organised in cooperation with GLaw-Net and GreenDeal-NET. Maastricht University students will be eligible for certificates of attendance (see more information under the registration link).