Environmental protection. European law and governance

Abstract:
The EU has emerged as a major source of innovation in environmental governance. This is manifested through the frameworks it is putting in place for environmental governance, and through its position on the world stage for international environmental law. An institutional richness has developed which is sometimes daunting in its complexity but which offers much promise for the future. This volume seeks to give a taste of this, and of the challenges which face the EU in its sustainable development phase.

The volume opens with a broad historical overview of the evolution of EU environmental governance. This discussion characterizes the most recent phase as that of sustainable development, in which the political dynamic is one of destabilisation and the preferred instrument of decision-making, the reflexive framework directive.

There follows a series of case studies. Ranging from the general to the particular, these cover both the internal and external aspects of EU policy. These include recent key issues in EU environmental law and governance, such as the water framework directive, the new chemicals regime (REACH) and European responses to the challenge of climate change. These case studies engage with key issues in environmental law and governance, including environmental justice, the relationship between trade and environment, and participation in environmental decision-making. The book will be of interest to academics and advanced students of EU and environmental law.

Contents:
1. The evolution of EU environmental governance - Ingmar von Homeyer
2. Law and governance of water protection policy - Maria Lee
3. REACH: combining harmonization and dynamism in the regulation of chemicals - Joanne Scott
4. Building spatial Europe: an environmental justice perspective - Jane Holder
5. EC external relations on environmental law - Massimiliano Montini
6. A climate of change: an analysis of progress in EU and international climate change policy - Jürgen Lefevere