The General System of EU Environmental Law Enforcement

Summary:

The purpose this article is to provide a critical overview of the ‘three-dimensional nature’ of the enforcement of European Union (EU) environmental law in light of the case-law of the European Court of Justice.

When a Member State does not comply with EU environmental law, the Commission may bring infringement proceedings. Also, individuals and environmental organizations may bring an action for annulment before the European General Court in the event of an EU institution breaching EU environmental law. In the same way, private applicants may also bring an action before national courts seeking to set aside national legislation or administrative action conflicting with EU environmental law.

The article analyses these three different, albeit complementary, mechanisms of enforcing EU environmental law.

• Primary Source