21. Environmental law

This chapter examines EU environmental law. It first introduces the legal framework of EU environmental policy by explaining its historic evolution, as well as its current objectives and principles. It then explores three representative areas of EU environmental law - nature conservation, water, and climate change - with a view to highlighting two trends of broader relevance to the understanding of EU environmental law as a whole: the interaction between environmental protection and economic development, and the interaction between EU and international environmental law.