Coping with EU environmental legislation: transposition principles and practices

TY - JOUR

T1 - Coping with EU environmental legislation

T2 - transposition principles and practices

AU - Anker, Helle Tegner

AU - de Graaf, Kars

AU - Purdy, Ray

AU - Squintani, Lorenzo

PY - 2015/3/1

Y1 - 2015/3/1

N2 - A ‘burden reducing’ agenda has spurred an increased interest in how EU environmental legislation is transposed into national legislation—most prominently reflected in the principle of ‘no gold-plating’. Yet, an important question is to what extent transposition principles and practices may ensure a coherent and accessible body of environmental legislation, while at the same time ensuring adequate transposition of EU environmental legislation. This article analyses the existence, or emergence, of transposition principles and practices in three Member States—the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Denmark. It also examines how EU initiatives may influence these principles and practices. The article concludes that the steering of transposition processes by general transposition principles and objectives alone, and in particular those dominated by a ‘burden reducing’ agenda, has a limited focus on coherence and accessibility with respect to environmental legislation and that such issues deserve more attention in the transposition process.

AB - A ‘burden reducing’ agenda has spurred an increased interest in how EU environmental legislation is transposed into national legislation—most prominently reflected in the principle of ‘no gold-plating’. Yet, an important question is to what extent transposition principles and practices may ensure a coherent and accessible body of environmental legislation, while at the same time ensuring adequate transposition of EU environmental legislation. This article analyses the existence, or emergence, of transposition principles and practices in three Member States—the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Denmark. It also examines how EU initiatives may influence these principles and practices. The article concludes that the steering of transposition processes by general transposition principles and objectives alone, and in particular those dominated by a ‘burden reducing’ agenda, has a limited focus on coherence and accessibility with respect to environmental legislation and that such issues deserve more attention in the transposition process.

U2 - 10.1093/jel/equ033

DO - 10.1093/jel/equ033

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0952-8873

VL - 27

SP - 17

EP - 44

JO - Journal of Environmental Law

JF - Journal of Environmental Law

IS - 1

ER -