| Author (Corporate) | United Kingdom: House of Commons: Environment Audit Committee |
|---|---|
| Series Title | 3rd Report |
| Series Details | (2015-16)HC537 |
| Publication Date | April 2016 |
| Content Type | Report |
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European Union membership has been a crucial factor in shaping United Kingdom environmental policy on air and water pollution, and biodiversity, according to the UK House of Common's Environmental Audit Committee’s report on EU and UK Environmental Policy published in April 2016. The Committee heard that EU environmental policy development has been a two-way street. On the one hand, EU membership has given the UK a platform to pursue its environmental objectives internationally, and influence the strategic, long-term direction of policy. On the other hand, EU membership has ensured that environmental action in the UK has been taken on a faster timetable, and more thoroughly than would otherwise have been the case. The inquiry heard concerns that a UK outside the EU would still have to follow some EU environmental legislation, but with significantly less ability to influence how it is developed. Ministers told the Committee that a vote to leave would result in a 'long and tortuous negotiation'. Business representatives felt a leave vote could remove long-term certainty. However, one of the members of the Committee, Peter Lilley, who supported EU exit, published a dissenting view arguing the UK could happily negotiate environmental legislation at an intergovernmental level and have a greater say on some international bodies by having its own seat, rather than being represented by the EU. |
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| Source Link | http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmselect/cmenvaud/537/537.pdf |
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| Subject Categories | Environment |
| Countries / Regions | Europe, United Kingdom |
