Environmental Governance and the Legal Bases Conundrum

Summary:

This article discusses the development of environmental policy in the EU.

Before embarking upon analysing the conflicts between the environmental policy and other EU policies, the article recalls the principles which govern the choice of legal bases and the review by the Court of its exercise. The article also covers conflicts between the environmental policy and the internal market, the Common Commercial Policy (CCP), the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), criminal law, and nuclear law.

The article argues that the dialogue between law and science, economic development and the preservation of natural resources, the regulation of access to resources and our consumer society must find the green shoots of a solution under the aegis of this kind of rule that is dedicated par excellence to the reconciliation of competing interests.