By Institute for European Environmental Policy, 2013
The need to contain pollution, reverse environmental degradation and progress environmental sustainability has been a major policy challenge particularly in recent decades; it continues to be a priority for governments throughout Europe, including the UK. It requires action at all levels, from the local to the global.
Within this spectrum the European level has grown progressively since the 1970s to become the core framework in most areas of environmental policy. It now covers air and water pollution, major aspects of climate change mitigation, waste and recycling, biodiversity conservation, the regulation of chemicals, noise, energy conservation, environmental liability and justice, marine protection and several other issues. It provides a common EU framework within which there can be considerable flexibility for tailoring approaches to specific national and regional conditions. It is now the most developed and influential body of environmental law and policy on the global stage as well as within Europe. This has been achieved with the active support of governments from an increasingly diverse EU because it has been viewed as the most effective and efficient means of addressing much of the environmental and climate agenda – both in environmental and in economic terms. Successive British governments of all political outlooks have shared this view and the UK has exerted a significant influence on the evolution of the policy – in terms of the priorities set, the scientific evidence, the policy tools employed and some of the key measures adopted. These include the Water Framework Directive and core legislation on industrial emissions.
 Report on the influence of EU policies on the environment | [ ] |
