Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on implementing European Community Environmental Law {SEC(2008) 2851} {SEC(2008) 2852} {SEC(2008) 2876}
Date: 2008-11-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: drafting of EU law, environmental law, environmental protection, right to justice

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 18.11.2008 
COM(2008) 773 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

on implementing European Community Environmental Law 

{SEC(2008) 2851} 
{SEC(2008) 2852} 
{SEC(2008) 2876} 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

on implementing European Community Environmental Law 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The  aim  of  this  Communication  is  to  show  how  the  new  approaches  set  out  in  the 
Communication  “A  Europe of  Results — Applying EU Law” will be applied in the area of 
environment.  

It shows how EC environmental law can be implemented better by a combination of: 

•  legislative and post-legislative work aimed at the prevention of breaches, 

•  responding to the specific concerns of the European public, 

•  more 

immediate  and  more 

intensive 

treatment  of 

the  most 

important 

infringements,  

•  enhanced dialogue with the European Parliament, 

•  enhanced  transparency,  communication  and  dialogue  with  the  public  and 

interested parties. 

This review is particularly timely in the light of EU enlargement in the period 2004-2007, the 
deepening  of  environmental  concerns,  a  growing  environmental  acquis, 
important 
developments in the case-law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the emergence of 
new  compliance-promoting  practices.  The  Communication  reflects  the  increased  priority 
attached  to  implementation,  especially  as  expressed  in  the  Sixth  Environment  Action 
Programme1  and  its  mid-term  review2,  and  responds  to  a  long-standing  interest  of  the 
European Parliament.  

The  Communication  first  sets  out  the  challenges  in  applying  environmental  law  in  the  EU. 
The  specific  means  of  promoting  and  achieving  compliance  are  then  outlined,  divided 
between: preventing breaches by improving the quality of new EC environmental legislation 
and ensuring good-quality national implementation; responding to the specific concerns of the 
European  public,  with  an 
improved  problem-solving  mechanism  and  an  enhanced 
Commission presence in the Member States; criteria for identifying breaches which call for an 
especially  high  level  of  attention;  and  proposals  for  enhanced  dialogue  with  the  European 
Parliament,  the  public  and  interested  parties.  The  Communication  is  complemented  by  two 
separate  Commission  documents,  one  a  description  of  sectoral  challenges  and  an  outline  of 
preventive  measures  to  promote  compliance,  and  the  other  a  summary  of  the  impact 
assessment3.  

1 
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3 

Decision No 1600/2002/EC. 
Commission Communication COM(2007) 225. 
SEC(2008) 2851 and SEC(2008) 2852. 

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2. 

THE CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING EC ENVIRONMENTAL LAW 

2.1. 

General challenges  

The environmental acquis is broad and ambitious, covering such issues as climate change, air 
quality,  waste  management,  protection  of  water  resources  and  biodiversity,  controls  on 
chemicals, and environmental impact assessment. It deploys a wide array of techniques, such 
as  product  standards,  state-of-the-environment  objectives,  prohibitions  and  restrictions, 
economic  instruments,  sensitive  area  designations,  plans  and  programmes,  and  public 
participation and information provisions. The acquis needs to be applied to a wide range of 
natural conditions, under very varied national and regional administrative arrangements, and 
in  situations  that  often  have  a  cross-border  dimension.  There  is  also  a  high  level  of  public 
interest, reflected in the exercise of environmental rights, including complaints and petitions. 

To these must be added the challenges presented by: 

•  insufficient  attention  being  paid  to  deadlines  and  completeness  during  the 

adoption of national and regional legislation,  

•  shortcomings 

in  knowledge  and  awareness 

in  national  and 

regional 

administrations,  

•  shortcomings in administrative capacities,  

•  weak national and regional enforcement policies and practices, 

•  under-investment  and  delayed  investment  in  necessary  pollution-abatement 

infrastructure.  

The  challenges  presented  by  recent  enlargement  also  deserve  mention.  Application  of  the 
acquis  in  the  EU-12  requires  significant  efforts  in  terms  of  infrastructure  improvements, 
administrative  arrangements  and  the  facilitation  of  citizen  participation.  Similar  challenges 
arise in enlargement countries.  

2.2. 

Specific Challenges 

Non-communication of, and defects in, national and regional implementing legislation affect 
all parts of the environmental acquis. The following specific challenges apply: 

•  Waste – the need in certain Member States to end illegal landfilling, put in place 
adequate  networks  of  regulated  waste  facilities,  prevent  illegal  waste  shipments 
and  intensify  public  awareness  of  the  goals  of  preventing,  reusing  and  recycling 
waste.  A  combination  of  investment  and  well-structured  national  and  regional 
enforcement and awareness-raising activities is necessary. 

•  Water – a need in certain Member States to invest more in collecting and treating 
urban waste water. This requires long-term planning and financial commitments.  

•  Nature  –  while  now  substantial  in  coverage,  a  key  network  of  European  nature 
sites still has gaps. More effort is also necessary to manage the sites in line with 
nature conservation objectives. 

•  Industrial  installations  –significant  numbers  of  industrial  installations  still  have 

EC permit and related requirements outstanding. 

•  Environmental  impact  assessment  –  the  question  of  compliance  with  EC 
environmental  impact  assessment  rules  is  frequently  invoked  in  objections  to 
major projects. The challenge is to have orderly development that takes account of 
legitimate environmental concerns. 

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•  Air quality – lack of compliance with EC air quality standards in many European 

cities requires concerted action to lower concentrations of pollutants. 

•  Climate  change  -  there  is  an  ongoing  need  to  ensure  that  all  Member  States 
provide the information needed to give proper follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol to 
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change4. 

An accompanying document sets out more details. 

3. 

THE SOLUTIONS: TOWARDS IMPROVED IMPLEMENTATION OF EC ENVIRONMENTAL 
LAW 

Better implementation of EC environmental law requires action of a preventive and corrective 
nature in key areas. There is also a strategic element. 

The Environment Directorate-General has set up internal task forces for nature conservation, 
water,  air,  climate  change,  waste  and  impact  assessment  in  the  interests  of  coherence  from 
conception  to  implementation  of  policies  and  of  the  co-ordinated  use  of  the  broad  range  of 
tools described below.  

This  has  involved  a  strategic,  sectoral  approach,  i.e.  identifying  and  tackling  problems  that 
exist at a significant scale and across Member States. By way of example, this has allowed the 
Commission  to  tackle  the  lack  of  waste-water  treatment  facilities  in  a  far  higher  number  of 
cities, and the presence of illegal landfills in a far higher number of places than would have 
been  possible  if  it  had  only  focused  on  individual  problems.  In  the  context  of  nature 
legislation,  it  has  helped  secure  the  designation  of  thousands  of  sites  across  the  EU:  the 
approach is being extended to site management, for instance by promoting dialogue and best 
practice in specific economic sectors, such as ports and the non-energy extractive industry. A 
forthcoming  Commission  report  on  the  first  health  check  of  habitats  and  species  protected 
under EC nature legislation will indicate how effective current policy is. 

3.1. 

Prevention of breaches 

The extent and complexity of Community environmental legislation, combined with the high 
number  of  infringements,  underline  the  importance  of  having  a  well-developed  strategy  for 
preventing  breaches  in  the  first  place.  Preventive  measures,  as  described  below,  are  in  fact 
systematically  used  by  the  Commission.  The  accompanying  document  provides  a  more 
complete description.  

Efforts to prevent breaches need to reflect a legislative life-cycle approach. They need to start 
with the design  and drafting of legislation,  to involve a range of  actions  and  activities once 
legislation  is  adopted,  and  to  take  in  legislative  review  and  revision.  Impact  assessment,  air 
quality  and  waste  legislation  provide  examples  of  legislative  updating  that  takes  account  of 
experience gained through implementation and enforcement work. 

The  use  of  such  techniques  and  instruments  as  thematic  strategies,  consultation  and  impact 
assessment can help ensure that new legislation and policies — and the review and revision of 
existing legislation and policies — are coherent, efficient and effective. 

Once legislation and policies are in place, a range of preventive tools exists to help ensure that 
tasks set by the legislation are successfully completed. These comprise: 

4 

Decision 280/2004. 

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•  Effective  information-gathering  to  check  the  extent  to  which  legislation  and 
policies are working. For example the Commission’s annual bathing water reports 
give  a  widely  publicised  picture  of  bathing  water  quality  for  the  whole 
Community.  

•  Performance scoreboards enabling Member States and the public to compare the 
relative  performances  of  Member  States  in  achieving  specific  goals.  One  such 
scoreboard  has  been  highlighting  Member  State  progress  in  establishing  a 
Community network of protected nature sites5. 

•  Appropriate  use  of  Community  funds.  For  example,  agri-environment  spending 
supports farming systems that maintain fragile semi-natural habitats. Community 
funds  support  major  investments  in  waste-water  collection  and  treatment.  The 
Regional  Development  and  Cohesion  Funds  make  explicit  reference  to  clean 
transport. 

•  Pre-accession support in enlargement countries to ensure that, as of the date of 

accession, new Member States are better able to comply with the acquis. 

•  Development  of  Commission  guidance  documents  to  help  avoid  interpretative 
disputes  and  misunderstandings.  By  way  of  example,  the  Commission  has 
produced  twenty-four  guidance  documents  covering  key  aspects  of  framework 
water  legislation.  This  reflects  the  wide  implications  of,  and  keen  stakeholder 
interest in, the legislation concerned.  

•  Other  forms  of  support,  and  structured  dialogue  with  national  authorities, 
including through the established networks of experts, IMPEL6 and GreenForce7, 
and other stakeholders. For example, the Commission is conducting dialogue on 
problems  concerning  illegal  and  mismanaged  waste  sites  and  illegal  waste 
shipments. 

The Commission also intends to help fund a programme of judicial training in environmental 
law  and  will  exchange  information  and  co-operate  with  networks  of  judges  such  as  the 
European  Forum  of  Judges  for  the  Environment  and  the  Association  of  European 
Administrative Judges. This is to reflect the key role that national courts play: they adjudicate 
on  many  individual  cases  and,  in  areas  such  as  waste  and  nature  conservation,  the 
interpretative ECJ case-law resulting from Commission direct actions under Article 226 of the 
EC Treaty has been significantly supplemented by case-law resulting from the use by national 
judges of Article 234 of the Treaty.  

The  Commission  will,  following  the  adoption  of  major  new  environmental  directives, 
establish  permanent  networks  involving  Commission  officials  and  Member  State  contact 
points. These will aim to use exchanges of advice and experience to achieve full and timely 
implementation. By way of example, such networks already exist for EC nature legislation.  

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The scoreboard is known as the Natura 2000 barometer. For more information see 
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/barometer/index_en.htm. 
European Union network for the implementation and enforcement of environmental law. This network 
of national inspectors was formed in 1992. For more information see 
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/impel/index.htm. 
The European Union network of Member States’ practitioners in both nature conservation and forestry. 
For more information see http://ec.europa.eu/environment/greenforce/index_en.htm. 

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3.2. 

Problem-Solving — responding to specific concerns of the European public 

To ensure uniform acceptance of EC environmental law, it is important for citizens to be able 
to get accurate information about it in all official languages, to be able to call on responsible 
bodies to fulfil its requirements and, in certain circumstances, to be able to refer to national 
dispute resolution mechanisms that are derived from EC law. There should also be a coherent 
and efficient relationship between the various responsible bodies to avoid, as far as possible, 
replication of effort.  

Since implementation is primarily the responsibility of Member States, the main focus needs 
to be on effective response and accountability at national and regional level.  

Effective  response  at  the  national  and  regional  level,  including  mechanisms  for 
administrative and judicial review 

Citizens'  requests  to  the  responsible  authorities  to  uphold  EC-derived  law  in  situations  of 
concern  

Citizens  will  often  be  the  first  to  become  aware  of  activities  in  breach  of  EC-derived 
environmental  rules,  such  as  illegal  land  filling  or  polluting  discharges  to  water.  One 
important  indicator  of  meaningful  implementation  is  the  speed  and  effectiveness  of  official 
intervention once people alert the authorities. Member States can foster a good relationship by 
means  such  as  confidential  telephone  lines,  complaint-handling  procedures,  enforcement 
oversight bodies and ombudsmen.  

Situations  involving  a  dispute:  dispute  mechanisms  at  national  and  regional  level  derived 
from EC law, the role of the Aarhus Convention 

There  will  be  situations  where  citizens  on  the  one  hand  and  responsible  authorities  on  the 
other disagree on whether there is compliance with EC environmental law.  

The  Aarhus  Convention8,  to  which  the  Community  is  a  party9,  makes  broad  provision  for 
access to justice. In 2003 the Commission adopted a proposal for an implementing directive 
on access to justice in environmental matters10 which is currently with the co-legislators. The 
Commission  has  also  published  a  study  of  how  Member  States  are  giving  effect  to  the 
Convention11 and has organised a public debate in the light of the findings12. The Commission 
remains  of  the  view  that  Community  environmental  law  would  be  better  and  more 
consistently enforced if the proposed directive were adopted. Making it easier to bring cases 
before a national judge should enable problems to be resolved closer to the citizen. It should 
also reduce the need for Commission intervention.  

EC  environmental  law  already  provides  for  review  mechanisms  where  disputes  concern 
refusals to provide requested environmental information or public consultation in relation to 

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10 
11 

12 

Convention on  access  to  information,  public  participation  in  decision-making  and  access  to  justice  in 
environmental matters. 
See Council Decision 2005/370/EC (OJL 124, 17.5.2005). 
COM(2003) 624. 
The  study  is  entitled  "Measures  on  access  to  justice  in  environmental  matters  (Article  9(3))".  It  is 
available at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/aarhus/study_access.htm. 
See  previous footnote.  The  study  broadly  indicates  that  there  is  significant  room  for  improvement  on 
access to justice across the Community. 

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environmental  impact  assessments  and  integrated  pollution  prevention  and  control  permit 
decisions.  By  checking  the  quality  of  national  legislation  and  practical  implementation,  the 
Commission  will  work  to  ensure  that  these  review  mechanisms  are  effective  in  all  Member 
States. When reviewing existing or proposing new legislation, the Commission will consider 
proposing similar review mechanisms. 

The Commission’s role in dealing with information requests, complaints and petitions 

While  the  first  emphasis  must  be  on  ensuring  that  citizens  and  stakeholders  get  satisfactory 
responses  at  national  and  regional  level,  the  Commission  is  also  asked  to  investigate 
complaints and petitions and to provide information on the environment.  

The Commission has established a pilot problem-solving mechanism with 15 Member States 
to test how it can respond better to citizens' inquiries concerning the application of EC law. 
Any environment cases will be promptly transmitted to Member States taking part in the pilot 
project.  Member  States  will  be  encouraged  to  apply  the  best  practice  emerging  from 
individual cases on a broader basis. 

On a trial basis, the Commission is placing environment officials in its representation offices 
in  four  Member  States13  to  bring  environmental  law  expertise  closer  to  citizens  and  other 
stakeholders,  providing  legal  and  other  information,  raising  awareness,  identifying  and 
assessing  problems  and  solutions  and  liaising  with  national  authorities  and  bodies  with 
implementation-related  functions.  Their  activities  will  be  closely  co-ordinated  with  other 
Commission implementation initiatives, including the enhanced problem-solving mechanism. 
Early  indications  are  that  the  initiative  is  helping  to  identify  problems  and  solutions  at  an 
earlier stage. 

The range of ways of promoting and achieving compliance with all environmental legislation 
will  be  kept  under  review  and  assessed  against  the  objectives  of  timely  and  complete 
implementation and responsiveness to public concerns.  

3.3.  More immediate and more intensive treatment of important infringements 

Judgments  of  the  ECJ  have  played  an  important  role  in  improving  the  application  of  EC 
environment law. For example, cases concerning the failure to designate enough wetlands and 
other  areas  as  special  protection  areas  for  wild  birds  in  the  Netherlands14  and  to  nominate 
enough  habitats  in  Germany15  and  France16  to  a  Europe-wide  network  of  important  nature 
sites have helped ensure that there are now extensive protected areas for Europe’s endangered 
wildlife  in  these  countries.  Cases  concerning  the  widespread  flouting  of  Community  waste 
rules in Ireland17 and the tolerance of a large number of illegal landfills in Greece18 have laid 
the basis for important waste management reforms in these Member States.  

It  is  important  that  the  infringement  procedure  be  used  effectively  to  tackle  the  most 
important problems. While all complaints and infringements will be dealt with, a “Europe of 
Results” refers to three categories of infringement that will be dealt with more immediately 
and more intensively. 

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Spain, Portugal, Italy and Poland. 
C-3/96 Commission v Netherlands [1998] ECR I-3031  
Case C-71/99 Commission v Germany [2001] ECR I-5811. 
Case C-220/99 Commission v France [2001] ECR I-5831. 
Case C-494/01 Commission v Ireland [2005] ECR I-3331. 
Case C-502/03, Commission v Greece. 

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1.  The  first  category,  which  includes  non-communication  of  implementing  measures  for 
directives,  is  of  particular  significance  for  the  environment  because  directives  dominate  the 
environmental acquis.  

2. The second category is failure to comply with ECJ judgments within a benchmark of an 
average  of  12  to  24  months  subject  to  specific  circumstances  of  exceptional  cases.  A 
significant number of judgments on the environment concern results-based obligations, such 
as  the  achievement  of  an  environmental  quality  standard  or  the  provision  of  waste-water 
treatment.  In  applying  the  benchmark,  the  Commission  will  take  account  of  relevant  ECJ 
case-law19.  

3. The third category is breaches of EC law, including non-conformity cases, raising issues 
of principle or having particularly far-reaching negative impact for citizens, such as those 
concerning the application of Treaty principles and main elements of framework regulations 
and directives. Criteria for such non-conformity cases need to be established sector by sector. 

In  terms  of  environment  policy,  infringements  having  a  particularly  far-reaching  negative 
impact for citizens involve situations  where, on  a significant scale  or repeatedly, people are 
exposed  or  may  in  the  future  become  exposed  to  direct  harm  or  serious  detriment  to  their 
quality  of  life  as  a  result  of  failure  to  comply  with  environmental  quality  standards  or  with 
requirements  governing  polluting  activities.  The  irreversible  character  of  the  harm  is  a 
prioritisation factor.  

Issues  of  principle  may  arise  in  a  number  of  ways,  for  example  a  Member  State  may 
fundamentally  undermine  the  overall  effectiveness  of  EC  environmental  legislation  by 
adopting  transposition  measures  that  are  significantly  in  non-conformity  with  the  directive 
concerned or by failing to take measures to contribute to an agreed specific Community-wide 
action such as the emissions trading scheme.  

Against this background, the following criteria will be applied in the environment sector: 

a)  Non-conformity  of  key  legislation  viewed  as  presenting  a  significant  risk  for  correct 
implementation of environmental rules and hence their overall effectiveness. This criterion is 
intended to be limited to those directives and directive provisions that set the main framework 
for  environmental  protection.  It  covers  defective  or  incomplete  national  legislation  that 
significantly  limits  the  scope  of  application  of  a  directive's  requirements  or  otherwise 
significantly  compromises  the  results  to  be  achieved.  For  example,  for  nature  conservation 
and  impact  assessment,  conformity-related  legal  action  is  already  being  taken  for  the  Birds 
Directive,20 the Habitats Directive21, and the Impact Assessment Directive22. Similar action is 
progressively being taken for the major directives in the fields of waste management, water 
and air protection.  

b)  Systemic  breaches  of  environmental  quality  or  other  environmental  protection 
requirements  presenting  serious  adverse  consequences  or  risks  for  human  health  and  well-
being or for aspects of nature that have high ecological value. This criterion covers situations 
where there is contravention repeatedly or on a significant scale of, firstly, important state-of-

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20 
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Case C-278/01 Commission v Spain [2003] ECR I-14141, paragraphs 26-30  
Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds (OJ L 103, 25.4.1979). 
Directive  92/43/EEC  on  the  conservation  of  natural  habitats  and  of  wild  flora  and  fauna  (OJ  L  206, 
22.7.1992). 
Directive  85/337/EEC  on  the  assessment  of  the  effects  of  certain  public  and  private  projects  on  the 
environment (OJ L 175 , 5.7.1985). 

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the-environment  obligations,  such  as  those  requiring  maximum  pollutant  levels  to  be 
respected in air or water or deterioration of natural habitats to be avoided, or, secondly, key 
procedural or activity-related obligations such as those requiring landfills to operate under a 
waste permit, certain industries to operate under an IPPC permit23 and urban waste water to be 
collected  and  treated.  While  the  pursuit  of  individual  cases  may  be  effective,  experience 
indicates  that  it  is  generally  more  efficient  and  equitable  to  try  to  resolve  widespread 
problems  through  a  more  systematic  approach.  Examples  of  systemic  breaches  that  the 
Commission has addressed or is addressing include, for water, breaches of bathing water and 
drinking  water  standards  and  failure  to  collect  and  treat  urban  waste-water,  for  waste, 
tolerance  of  illegal  waste  activities  and,  for  nature,  failure  to  abide  by  hunting  rules  or 
derogation conditions. The Commission intends to build on these examples and, on the basis 
of  available  evidence,  focus  on  systemic  breaches  of  central  provisions  of  environmental 
directives, such as the site protection requirements of the Habitats Directive.  

c)  Breaches  of  core,  strategic  obligations  on  which  fulfilment  of  other  obligations  depends. 
This criterion covers failures to meet designation, plan and programme-making, reporting and 
similar  obligations  which  go  to  the  heart  of  particular  environmental  laws  and  which  are 
intended  to  set  a  strategic  framework  for  other  obligations.  Illustrations  can  be  found  in 
Commission  legal  actions  to  secure,  in  the  sphere  of  nature  legislation,  designations  or 
nominations  of  networks  of  important  wildlife  sites;  in  the  sphere  of  water  legislation, 
compliant action programmes to reduce water pollution from use of agricultural fertilizers; in 
the sphere of emissions trading, the adoption of national allocation plans; and in the sphere of 
waste legislation, waste management plans.  

d) Breaches concerning big infrastructure projects or interventions involving EU funding or 
significant adverse impacts. In the light of the Aarhus Convention, the most appropriate level 
for  addressing  many  such  breaches  may  be  that  of  the  national  courts.  However,  the 
Commission  may  also  need  to  act,  e.g.  where  Community  co-financing  is  involved.  The 
Commission  will  take  into  account  such  considerations  as  irreversible  ecological  damage, 
and, where appropriate, seek interim measures from the ECJ. While likely to be sought only 
exceptionally, interim measures represent a potentially important safeguard for ensuring that 
infringements do not present seriously damaging faits accomplis. 

Further details of Commission infringements can be found in the complementary document. 
The  Commission  is  ready  to  discuss  the  above  criteria  with  the  European  Parliament  and 
interested  parties,  including  how  to  apply  them  to  specific  subject  areas  like  nature 
conservation, water and waste, and is willing to adjust or review them by way of the annual 
reports on the application of EU law. The Commission will also reflect with interest on any 
views that the Council may wish to present. 

In  monitoring  progress,  particular  attention  will  be  paid  to  progress  on  the  above  cases.  To 
ensure that the general and sectoral criteria are meaningful, other cases will be addressed at a 
pace  and  in  a  manner  that  does  not  compromise  the  efficient  and  effective  handling  of 
important  ones.  Maximum  effort  will  be  made  to  ensure  that  other  dossiers  are  resolved 
through the means referred to in Sections 3.1 and 3.2.  

3.4. 

Dialogue with the European Parliament 

As co-legislator, the European Parliament has a clear interest in effective implementation. The 
environment  accounts  for  about  10%  of  all  parliamentary  questions  put  to  the  Commission. 
implementation  of  EC 
The  Environment  Committee  has  periodic  sessions  on 

the 

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Integrated pollution prevention and control. 

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environmental law, and the environment is currently the main subject in 35% of the petitions 
handled by the Petitions Committee.  

The work of these Committees can facilitate dialogue on strategic aspects of implementation, 
such as those relating to the evaluations to be made in future Commission Annual Reports on 
the  Application  of  EU  law.  For  example,  the  Environment  Committee’s  implementation 
sessions provide an occasion to discuss the situation in particular sectors, such as water, waste 
and nature conservation. The improved problem-solving mechanism should help the Petitions 
Committee to address citizens’ grievances. It is to be expected that the Parliament will also 
have  inter-actions  with  national  parliaments,  not  least  because  of  the  role  these  play  in 
transposing directives for which the Parliament is co-legislator. The Commission is ready to 
assist in these interactions.  

3.5. 

Transparency,  communication  and  dialogue  with  the  public  and  interested 
parties 

Transparency and communication have special importance in a field where the desirability of 
an environmentally well-informed and active public is recognised in a significant number of 
legislative  provisions.  Information  and  key  statistics,  showing  in  particular  how  work  on 
important cases is progressing, will be made available through Commission Annual Reports. 
Regularly  updated  scoreboards  will  be  used  for  high-profile  objectives  such  as  nature 
conservation  designations.  There  will  also  be  awareness-raising  activities,  media  events  and 
publications aimed at general and specialised readerships. Communication strategies will be 
the subject of prior analysis and matched to operational requirements, using the internet where 
appropriate.  

Environmental  non-governmental  organisations  play  a  key  role  in  promoting  good 
implementation and public awareness. It is proposed to have regular  dialogue with them, in 
Brussels  and  in  national  capitals  through  the  representation  offices.  Through  dialogue,  the 
Commission will seek to obtain information on key implementation problems and concerns, 
encourage  strategic  analysis,  and  ensure  that  optimum  use  is  made  of  the  various  means  of 
problem-solving, including at national level.  

Dialogue will be pursued with other interested parties to take into account as wide a range of 
views  as  possible  when  it  formulates  general  positions  on  the  implementation  of  the 
environmental acquis.  

4. 

CONCLUSION 

Effective  implementation of EC environmental law will use a combination of means. Using 
the  tools  of  impact  assessment  and  consultation,  preparation  of  legislation  will  focus  on  the 
most  efficient  ways  of  meeting  environmental  goals.  Subsequent  work  will  focus  on 
preventing breaches by helping Member States to adopt national and regional legislation and 
other measures that are timely, complete and correct. In parallel, the Commission will seek to 
address the specific concerns of the European public by promoting responses at national and 
regional  level,  applying  the  improved  problem-solving  mechanism  and  itself  making 
environmental  law  expertise  available  in  Member  States,  initially  on  a  pilot  basis.  A  set  of 
criteria will be used to identify any breaches that call for a particularly high level of attention, 
including  where  appropriate  requests  to  the  ECJ  for  interim  measures.  It  is  also  intended  to 
have enhanced dialogue with the European Parliament, the public and interested parties and, 
where appropriate, to refine the Commission’s approach in the light of this.  

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This strategy should, through the mix of instruments, help the Commission to achieve greater 
efficiency  and  better  targeting  in  its  compliance  promotion  and  enforcement  work,  respond 
better to citizens and interested parties and do more to meet the challenges in recently acceded 
Member States as well as in enlargement countries. The effectiveness of the strategy will be 
kept under review and, if necessary, the Commission will propose further measures to ensure 
better implementation of EC environmental law.  

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ABBREVIATIONS AND EXPLANATIONS 

EC = European Community 

ECJ = European Court of Justice 

EU = European Union 

EU12 = those Member States of the European Union which joined in the period 2004-2007 

Acquis = the total body of applicable law 

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