Environmental Law Lecture series
Welcome to the Environmental Law Lecture series! In this series, environmental law scholars will provide important insights into how EU environmental law helps to achieve a high level of environmental protection in the European Union and beyond.
Strengthening EU Environmental Law:
Legal Perspectives on Greening Europe
The institutional architecture of EU environmental governance
EU environmental law and policy-making is characterised by a plurality of institutional actors. While the Commission remains a central policy-maker, EU agencies play an increasingly important role in a number of environmentally sensitive domains. Although the European Environment Agency is the decentralised agency whose mission is most evidently related to the EU environmental policy, also other EU agencies contribute to the achievement of the EU environmental protection objectives, especially within the European Green Deal. By mapping and discussing the different tasks attributed to EU agencies in this respect, this lecture analyses the role of EU agencies in environmental law and policy, and the way they contribute to integrating environmental concerns in EU governance and administration.
Watch it here on Youtube if you'd like to access the video transcript or jump chapters.
Key highlights
- EU Agencies' Role in Environmental Governance: The lecture underscores the crucial role of EU agencies in the environmental law framework, emphasizing their growing influence in incorporating environmental concerns into EU governance, highlighted by examples such as the European Environment Agency's activities.
- Legal Framework and Challenges: It explores the legal intricacies and challenges surrounding EU agencies, including judicial review, autonomy, and the nuanced balance between independence and regulatory control, particularly in the context of environmental legislation.
- European Green Deal's Impact: The discussion extends to the impact of the European Green Deal on these agencies, pointing out how it has expanded their responsibilities in environmental policy execution and the introduction of new mandates.
- Innovative Governance Models: Special attention is given to the formation and distinctive role of the European Advisory Board on Climate Change, questioning its effect on the established agency model and its implications for future environmental governance within the EU framework.
Speakers
Dr. Annalisa Volpato is tenured Assistant Professor at the University of Padova. She obtained a double PhD in EU law at Maastricht University and University of Padova, and an LLM in EU law at the College of Europe. Previously, she studied law at the Université de Louvain and at the University of Padova, where she graduated cum laude. She was also blue book trainee at the Legal Service of the European Commission and she qualified as a lawyer in 2015. Until 2023, she worked at the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University first as Lecturer and then as tenured Assistant Professor. She is also member of the Editorial Board of the Review of European Administrative Law and of the Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law.
Dr. Volpato's research interests concern the institutional and administrative aspects of EU law, the internal market and EU food law. In these areas, she has published articles in peer-reviewed journals (including Common Market Law Review, European Law Review, European Journal of Risk Regulation) and contributions in edited books. She is author of the book "Delegation of Powers in the EU Legal System" (Routledge, 2022) and of edited volumes. She presented her work in several international conferences and she held visiting positions at the University of York and at the European University Institute.
Dr. Ellen Vos is a Professor of EU law at Maastricht University, and director of the Maastricht Centre for European Law. She is a visiting professor at the College of Europe, Bruges. She is member of the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Risk Regulation and of the Advisory Board of the Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law.
Ellen Vos studied law at the Universities of Utrecht and Bologna. She was a trainee at the European Commission, the European Consumer Organisation and the European Court of Justice. She wrote and obtained her Ph.D. in Law at the European University Institute in Florence. She was a Jean Monnet fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute (Florence). From September 2001 until September 2005 she served as the Director of the advanced master programme in comparative, European and International law, Magister Iuris Communis programme of the Law Faculty of the Maastricht University. From 2015 to 2018 she was co-director of the Centre for European Research in Maastricht (CERiM).
Lecture Series
This lecture is part of a series that runs from 2023 to 2024, providing students and scholars with core insights into the current state of EU environmental law and how it can be improved to achieve greater environmental protection. All lectures will be recorded and made accessible through YouTube, and the series is freely accessible to all.
If you'd like to know more about the other upcoming lectures:
This GreenDeal-Net lecture serie 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).