Category: Environment

Brexit and Environmental Protection in Scotland: The Road Ahead

Annalisa Savaresi Brexit’s implications for environmental law and enforcement in the UK are symptomatic of the challenges associated with breaking away from the EU’s regulatory and governance arrangements. While nobody is seriously suggesting that after Brexit the UK will become a lawless land, incapable of upholding the rule of law on environmental matters, the loss …

Early Brexit Questions: The Paris Agreement and Climate Policy

Annalisa Savaresi The early entry into force of the Paris Agreement raises immediate Brexit-related international policy questions for the UK, writes Annalisa Savaresi. She argues that, as the UK considers its future relations with EU climate policy, it is also faced with existential questions concerning its own climate policy and how it is formulated, including …

Can European Policies Be Dismantled?

Viviane Gravey and Andrew Jordan Although European integration is often considered progressive and one-way, demands for limits on or even reversals of power have grown in recent years, write Viviane Gravey and Andrew Jordan. Looking at EU environmental law, they conclude this reversal process of policy dismantling does exist, but it is relatively limited, and …

State Aid and Steel: How Much Are the Government’s Hands Tied?

Francesco de Cecco One of the primary reasons cited by the UK Government for not intervening directly to rescue plants and jobs in the steel sector is EU state aid rules, which prohibit governments from providing certain kinds of support to industry, writes Francesco de Cecco. He argues that, while EU provisions for steel are …

EU Energy Union: Is There Anything New Under the Sun?

Francesca Batzella The European Commission’s proposal for a European Energy Union is just the latest development in the long history of EU energy policy, writes Francesca Batzella. She suggests that the aims and substance of the Energy Union are broadly a continuation of previous initiatives, and that its greatest innovation may well be its new …

Will China Cooperate with the EU at the Paris Climate Conference?

Feng Cunwan China and other major developing countries will play an increasingly important role in global climate negotiations, writes Feng Cunwan. He suggests that, although China has recently adopted a number of measures to step up its approach to addressing climate change, the differences on policy and worldview between China and the EU are significant …

The EU’s Energy Union: Solidarity amid Dissensus?

Antti Silvast The European Commission’s proposal for a European Energy Union, designed to integrate EU energy markets and energy supplies, is in large part a collection of previous policy goals, writes Antti Silvast. He argues that, in the attempt to connect all the related elements of energy policy together in one, the plans risk being …