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The aim of this short article is to provide a brief overview and reflections on the European Union's relatively recent introduction of a biennial Environmental Implementation Review (EIR) cycle as part of its activities in monitoring EU Member States' (MS) implementation of Union environmental law and policy. The EIR reflects an increased level of interest on the part of the Union in seeking to identify ways in which MS may improve upon their track records in implementing EU environmental legislative requirements at national level. Notably, it envisages a more intense form of engagement and dialogue on the part of the European Commission with MS authorities on identifying strengths and weaknesses in terms of individual MS performance as well as identifying common challenges at national level. The article assesses what key outcomes may have emerged thus far with the two EIR cycles that have been completed and how the EIR relates to the other principal supranational supervisory tool used by the EU for the purpose overseeing compliance with the EU environmental acquis, namely the use of law enforcement action via infringement proceedings. Ultimately, the article posits the view that the tools of EIR and law enforcement may be best seen to be in a complementary and mutually supportive relationship, each needing the other to be able to make a sufficient impression and impact on MS in terms of inducing them to address the subject of implementation with the degree of importance and urgency it deserves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essential component of the European Union's environmental policy is its participation in international legally binding instruments. Owing to the shared nature of its competence, the Union is most commonly a party to multilateral treaties alongside the Member States. This arrangement, however, is not without its inherent difficulties. The article examines the key stages of the procedure, as laid down in the Treaties and demonstrated by practice: the Commission recommendation to open negotiations, the Council authorization, the negotiating process, and the signing and conclusion of the agreement. The study reveals that the procedure is fraught with tension on two levels. First, each of the EU institutions involved strives to maximize its influence on the final outcome. The European Parliament warrants special attention due to its newly expanded powers. Second, the Member States are unwilling to take the back seat, especially in the sphere of climate talks. As a result, the Union still has recourse to pre-Lisbon practices and is yet to resolve its internal coordination issues in order to achieve its ambition of global leadership in environmental matters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of air pollution as a global problem contributing to health disorders and damage to the environment sparked the development of national legislation as well as international cooperation initiatives to improve air quality. As a result, the introduction of new and tighter air quality standards, national emission ceilings and more environmentally friendly technologies led to significant progress in reducing the levels of different pollutants in the ambient air. However, notwithstanding the achieved success, the overall damage dealt by air pollution remains high, while further attempts to tackle it are losing their momentum. With no perceptible finish line, the situation could last for decades, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of Euros outlays annually, thus compromising the very foundation of air policy. The article addresses this problem from the EU perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Codification of environmental law has been underway in Estonia from 2007. As the first result of this process, the General Part of the Environmental Code Act (GPECA) was adopted in February 2011. Among other provisions, the framework act establishes operators' general obligations. These obligations, applicable to all operators, are focused on prevention of environmental hazards and implementation of precautionary measures in order to minimize environmental risks to the reasonable extent. Being generally applicable and abstract in their nature, they constitute a ``safety net'' supporting the often overly casuistic and fragmented legal structure in the present environmental law (e.g. air quality law, nature protection law), national as well as EU. This article aims to draw attention to the concept of operators' general obligations and to highlight their possible role as tools for implementation of environmental policy goals both on EU and national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay, I address the different approaches of the EU and the WTO to the trade and environment conflict and find out in how far the present environmental policy of the EU is compatible with the conditions of the WTO's Art XX GATT. Therefore, I first establish the current level of environmental protection in the EU by analysing the standard aimed for by the EU and its realization in legislation and jurisprudence. To show how environmental protection works in practice, I analyse selected case law and show how EU courts treat trade restrictions on environmental grounds enacted by Member States. Having evaluated the current standard of the EU, I proceed to compare the result with the WTO. I briefly explain institutional environmental developments within the GATT 1947, important environmental cases before the establishment of the WTO 1994 and textual changes in the new WTO Agreement. I then evaluate how Art XX GATT is dealt with in key case law and simultaneously compare this to the results of my analysis of similar EU cases. To conclude, I give a brief outlook on pending cases and a summary of the results of my study in both the EU and the WTO ambit. I point out some important differences in legal texts and case law and finally come to give a negative answer to my initial question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource management and environmental policies form the basis for establishing relevant legislation and regulations; they ensure that government policies relating to gas flaring are being achieved efficiently and most effectively. It is the responsibility of government to set out a country's resource management and environmental policy. As part of developing a relevant policy, it is recommended that the government specify the strategy and the role flare reductions can and should play to achieve overall environmental and resource management objectives. This paper is in tune with the effectiveness of the emissions trading scheme which has considerable impact on flaring of gas on the (United Kingdom Continental Shelf) UKCS,1 the essay starts with a brief introduction, overview of onshore and offshore gas flaring in the United Kingdom, The effectiveness and impact of the emission trading scheme on the UKCS and finally the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the Ombudsman's decision making with regard to European Union (EU) environmental protection. It analyzes the roles of the Ombudsman in the Union configuration as well as his environmental record. It also discusses ways in which environmental complaints have influenced the locus of the Ombudsman in the EU.

The correlation between the concepts of radiation protection and environmental protection in the context of the application of the Euratom Treaty is a subject poorly covered in academic literature, but, nevertheless one of a perennial value and importance for the "nuclear" Europe. The aim of the text is to verify the extent to which the concept of radiation protection extends along the purview of the (much broader) concept of environment protection. Thus, an attempt is made to demonstrate whether the health and safety provisions of the Euratom Treaty and the relevant implementing legislation are solely aimed at protecting the health of humans and for that matter are only concerned with the effects of radiation only as far as they relate to the human factor, or indeed, additionally extend to the other elements comprising the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cap-and-trade schemes are of tremendous interest in the current trends of climate law and policy. Taking into account Phase I and Phase II, the EU ETS directive has been reformed in 2009 and will establish a totally new Phase III starting from 2013 until 2020. The new system will propose a broader material scope, new forms of allocation of allowances, due attention to benchmark free allowances and careful measures to address carbon leakage. Furthermore, the directive sets new forms of market oversight and opens up for stronger relations with other compatible systems. On the other side of the Atlantic, the lack of a US federal cap-and-trade system has not prevented the creation of sub-national or regional cap-and-trade schemes. The Californian cap-and-trade final regulation represents the most interesting and most advanced scheme in the US. It has been eventually adopted in fall 2011 and is designed to reduce GHG emissions by 2020 through a market-based compliance system. The two systems show improvements to earlier forms of emissions trading, but still raise questions on the actual compatibility between each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of the European Union (UN) in enforcing multilateral international environmental agreements (IEAs). It notes the influence of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) on expanding of the capability of the environmental policy of the European Community. The author further highlights the European Commission's use if infringement proceedings to enforce IEAs.

The article focuses on geoengineering, which is a climate change mitigation technique. It provides information on geoengineering, its related risks and the inapplicability of various international environmental policies including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). It further provides a case study on the European Union's policies on carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and discusses its various legal issues.

The case is an interesting example of the legal difficulties faced by private parties challenging before a Member State's courts the validity of Community acts in light of the ever proliferating international environmental agreements signed by the Community or the Member States themselves. In this case, a shipping industry coalition challenged in the English High Court the legality of Directive 2005/35/EC on Ship-Source Pollution in light of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships ("Marpol 73/78") and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS), which in turn referred questions for a preliminary ruling before the European Court of Justice. Predictably, the Directive has been vilified by the shipping industry for imposing higher standards than those established under international law. The case also shows how the concept of serious negligence, which appears in a number of EU/EC acts or proposals establishing an obligation of Member States to introduce criminal sanctions for violations of Community legislation or with the broader object of combating crime in the EU, may be interpreted by the national courts and the legislature of the Member States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a global problem that needs a comprehensive international response. If countries adopt different measures this may lead to carbon leakage that then leads to further emissions and to competitiveness concerns from those countries that have adopted more stringent measures. One approach to deal with carbon leakage and competitiveness concerns is through the adoption of border adjustment measures. This paper focuses on possible climate border adjustment measures that may arise from the development of the current EU climate policy, the final goal being to determine their compatibility vis-á- vis the WTO regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we analyse the provisions of the European Union (EU) Lisbon (Reform) Treaty and try to predict their future impacts on EU environmental governance. The Treaty could, if and when ratified, introduce changes to the EU's general principles and objectives, competences, institutions and policy procedures that may have a significant bearing on future patterns of environmental law and policy-making in the EU. But previous experience suggests that Treaty amendments tend to be "obligationally incomplete", that is subject to extensive post-treaty interpretation and contestation. Consequently, it may take many years for the full impacts of the new Treaty to reveal themselves should ratification ever be completed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Carbon trading under the Kyoto Protocol expanded further through the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). The EU ETS is a cap and trade system where EU allowances are usable for complying with emission caps or sold to the market. The scheme is also linked to the UN carbon markets. This means the allowing of more permits to enter into the system. The EU ETS is designed to achieve the overall EU emissions reduction objective at comparatively lower costs. Despite the problems of over-allocation, the first phase from 2005 to 2007 managed to establish the development of various spot, futures, and options markets for the trading of EU allowances. The EU Commission has implemented measures to deal with the problem of over-allocation. Currently, The Carbon Rating Agency (TCRA) is launched to assist in the setting-up of a clearer relationship between carbon price and delivery risk to enable the carbon market to mature. This paper draws on insights of the more established but reasonably comparable credit rating agencies (CRAs) to assess implications of TCRA to the second phase development of the EU ETS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]