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Environmental responsibility in Europe
The Adequacy program and REFIT (Program for the Adequacy and Effectiveness of the Regulations of the European Commission) of the European Commission presented last month a report regarding the prevention and repair of environmental damage.
It warned of the misinterpretation that Member States are following in relation to the Directive on Environmental Responsibility -Directive 2004/35 / CE. In particular, regarding the application of the threshold beyond which damage can be considered… “significant”.
To understand a global vision of the European Directive, it should be noted that it distinguishes the following types of natural resources that can be damaged or threatened.
What kind of incidents can cause damage to natural resources?
We can learn more about the Environmental Responsibility Directive; functions, application, objectives … etc. HERE in Spanish.
Continuing with the reference report. The REFIT program includes measures to facilitate European Union regulations and reduce the costs it causes, to contribute to a clear, stable and predictable regulatory framework that favors the development of employment and growth.
It is aimed at the observation and implementation of mechanisms in cases of environmental damage significant, relying on the principle of "Who pollutes pays" as established in point two of article one hundred and ninety-one of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.
This report examines the status of the transposition of the Directive on environmental responsibility between 2007 - 2013, bearing in mind the results obtained in the first report and 2 studies carried out in two thousand and twelve and another 3 more in two thousand and thirteen.
The report sets out the number of incidents reported by Member States regarding environmental damage on D. Environmental Responsibility. In the following table we can see the distribution by countries:
Of each and every one of the reported cases, more or less, fifty percent refer to damage to the soil, thirty percent are damage to water and around twenty percent damage to biodiversity. (We can expand the information on the incidents in Spain HERE. Regarding the legislation, fromEnvironmental Responsibility Law of Spain HERE or the Environmental Profile report HERE).
The dangerous activities, linked to the strict liability, which cause environmental damage are, mainly, the following:
- Waste management.
- Treatment of dangerous substances and preparations, phytosanitary products or biocides.
- Activities within the framework of the Directive on industrial emissions.
- Transportation of dangerous goods or polluting products by rail, road, inland waterways, sea or air.
It denotes a significant disparity between EU countries in the reading and application of the Directive. An imbalance of notifications on environmental damage, which according to the report, is mainly explained by two reasons:
- Due to the different national legal frameworks that already exist.
- The very character of the Directive on Environmental Responsibility which establishes many exceptions, contemplates many options and gives great flexibility. And above all, the extent to which a threshold is interpreted and applied from which damage is considered significant.
Although there are points to be achieved, the Directive has made it possible to improve in a limited way the prevention and remediation of environmental damage compared to the situation before transposition. If we want to expand more information, we can consult from the reference article in TERRAQUI (Environmental Law Office).
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