Introduction
Environmental principles inform legal frameworks that relate to environmental protection or sustainable development. They act as guidance for national legislators, judges and decision-makers, giving the EU law specific shape and meaning. They are used in a whole host of government and public authority decisions, including planning applications, management of marine protected areas and dealing with contaminated land. Since the principles of EU environmental law are embodied in a vast array of binding legal regulation, acting against them (even incorrect interpretation) is contra legem and may constitute a violation of EU law.
One group of environmental principles has been used in EU policy-making since the 1970s, similar to a broader set of principles which was agreed globally at the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.
Article 191(2) of Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) sets out four main environmental principles that must guide policy within the scope of EU law:
These principles have been influential in formulating a range of EU law. Furthermore, a 'high level of environmental protection' is outlined, which is determining for proportionality of directives and regulatory actions (see below). Since Article 191(2) TFEU is directed at action at EU level, that provision cannot be relied on as such by individuals in order to exclude the application of national legislation in an area covered by environmental policy for which there is no EU legislation adopted. Similarly, the competent environmental authorities cannot rely on Article 191(2) TFEU in the area of the environment, in the absence of any national legal basis, for the purposes of imposing preventive and remedial measures (Case C-534/13 Fipa Group and Others, para. 40-41; Case C-254/08 Futura Immobiliare and Others, para. 48; Case C-172/08 Pontina Ambiente, para. 33).
A whole array of broader, general principles (including proportionality and subsidiarity) is also crucial for the effectiveness of the environmental protection and provide national judges guidelines on how to handle EU law in practice. These principles, outlined in the TFEU Articles 3, 5, 9-12, apply to the environmental policy realm but are not specifically 'environmental'.
An Cliquet
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