Leading up to IEEP's Think 2030 conference, experts express their views on Europe's most pressing sustainability issues in the Think 2030 blog series, Pathways to 2030.
The tenth edition of Pathways to 2030 features Nick Molho, Executive Director of the Aldersgate Group. The next European Commission must adopt a more positive stance on the value of regulations. Far from being a drag on the economy, well-designed environmental regulations can increase business investment in innovation and skills and drive competitiveness, he argues.
The Brexit negotiations enter what should be the final stages at the end of 2018, with an outline agreement on the future relationship. A new IEEP paper sets out what is needed to avoid the risk of environmental standards being lowered for competitive advantage.
As the UK and EU negotiators focus on the future relationship, our briefing note looks at how environmental legislation could be treated, and in particular what counts as an “equivalent” commitment. Getting this right matters; both to avoid competitiveness disputes, and to deliver green goals.
Céline Charveriat (IEEP) and Damien Demailly (IDDRI) discuss how the SDGs could be the key to launching the eagerly awaited debate on Europe’s future political priorities.
The EU’s Regulation on invasive alien species outlines actions to deal with one of the world’s biggest threats to biodiversity, but are there still hurdles to overcome?
Andrew Farmer examines the role of the better regulation agenda in shaping the processes and wider atmosphere surrounding the future of EU environmental policy.
Europeans face health and social challenges that merit urgent attention – obesity, mental health problems, social exclusion, air and noise pollution, and heat stress in cities. Our work is helping to address these issues, particularly those affecting socio-economically disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.
The Nature Directives (i.e. Birds Directive and Habitats Directive) are the key instruments of EU environmental policy; the Fitness Check support study, carried out by Milieu, IEEP and ICF for the European Commission DG-ENV, examined their effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, EU-added value and their coherence with the wider acquis.
As part of the fitness check of the EU Nature Directives, the European Commission is organising a high-level conference in Brussels on 20 November. The purpose of the conference is to present and discuss the emerging findings from the assessment of evidence and information gathered during the process.
Do future generations get a fair deal from the policy decisions we make now? A new IEEP report for the World Future Council launched today suggests not.
This is a chapter of IEEP’s Manual of European Environmental Policy. This chapter provides information on EU industrial pollution policy, which outlines and discusses the legislation in place to minimise the negative effects of harmful substances and pollutants on the environment and human health.
This is a chapter of IEEP’s Manual of European Environmental Policy. In this chapter the development of EU water pollution policy is explored, including the Water Framework Directive, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, and other directives and policies covering flooding; water scarcity; and dangerous substances in water.
This is a chapter of IEEP’s Manual of European Environmental Policy. This chapter on EU waste policies focuses on the management of waste, the environmental requirements with which waste management installations must comply and the big picture policy initiatives focused on waste.
This is a chapter of IEEP’s Manual of European Environmental Policy. This chapter on chemicals focuses on the two main strands of EU chemicals policy: REACH – (Registration, evaluation, authorisation of restricted chemicals) and CLP – (classification, labelling and packaging).
This is a chapter of IEEP’s Manual of European Environmental Policy. In this chapter the development of the EU biodiversity policy framework is explored, including the Birds and Habitats Directive and other legislation on Genetically Modified Organisms, for example.
As part of its Smart Regulation policy the European Commission is to undertake a Fitness Check of EU Nature legislation, which will comprise a comprehensive assessment of whether the regulatory framework is “fit for purpose”. IEEP is part of a consortium, led by Milieu, that has been awarded the study contract to support the Commission in collecting and assessing evidence for the fitness check.
