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.
Greening EU Environmental Law: What about the European Climate Law?
In recent years, “greening” has become a political buzzword. The publication on 11 December 2019 of the Communication on the European Green Deal has undoubtedly contributed to this new centrality of the term. However, like any political slogan, greening gives little or no indication of what the state of the law is in this area. It’s important to analyse if, in EU law, “greening” is merely a reformulation of a set of already well-established principles and rules, or if it’s a new term that reveals blind spots in EU law and policy and thus necessary developments.
This lecture will try to answer this question and will explain what "greening" means in EU law, including the integration principle, the objective of a high level of environmental protection, and the European Climate Law. To implement the European Green Deal, the Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2021 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality (‘European Climate Law’) was adopted. It makes the EU’s climate neutrality target by 2050 at the latest legally binding and sets the 2030 ambition which shall be a domestic reduction of net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% (compared to 1990 levels). It also lays the foundations for efforts to adapt to climate change and sets out important milestones in terms of monitoring procedures.
An analysis of the role of the European Climate Law within the existing EU regulatory regime related to climate change is a good way to explore “greening” in EU Law. We will study if it is merely a symbolic law that enshrines the EU’s climate objectives in law or if the new governance framework will change the way decisions are taken on EU and Member State level.
Watch it here on Youtube if you'd like to access the video transcript or jump chapters.
Key highlights
- Greening in EU law: The lecture explores the concept of Greening in EU law, examining whether it is a new legal approach or merely rebranding existing environmental principles within the European Green Deal.
- Effectiveness of EU environmental law: Despite an extensive body of environmental laws, the lecture points to the ongoing issues of enforcement and effectiveness, with frequent infringement cases against member states.
- European Climate Law’s shortcomings: The lecture critically assesses the European climate law, noting its ambitious goal of climate neutrality by 2050 but highlighting the political challenges and loopholes in setting intermediate targets.
- Integration and coherence principles: Discussion on the principles of integration and coherence reveals their limited application in the European climate law, with the "Do No Harm" principle only partially adopted.
- Access to justice: The absence of strong provisions for access to justice in environmental matters is highlighted, showing the European climate law’s failure to ensure effective legal recourse for individuals and NGOs.
Speaker
Prof. Estelle Brosset
Estelle Brosset is Law Professor at Aix Marseille University (France). She is specialized in European Environmental Law and European Health Law. She is Deputy Director of Research Center in International & EU Law and Senior Member of ”Institut Universitaire de France”.
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).