Aleksandra Cavoski

A post-austerity European Commission: no role for environmental policy?

Announcing that ‘the time has come for a new approach’ (Juncker 2014a), the new president of the European Commission introduced his agenda. This new approach, evident in the Commission’s Political Guidelines, represents a retreat rather than an advance of environmental protection. Concerns about a serious downgrading of the environment were immediately raised by environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs), in particular the umbrella group Green 10, which represents 10 environmental interest groups such as WWF and BirdLife Europe at the EU level. In particular, these organisations expressed concern at the absence of a clear environmental agenda or reference to the environment in the responsibilities of the Vice-Presidents, the downgrading of the environment portfolio, and the integration of the climate-change and energy portfolios. A quick perusal of Juncker’s political statement and mission letters for each new commissioner reveals that these concerns are not without foundation. As expected, the main focus of the new Commission is a post-austerity agenda to stabilise national economies and boost jobs growth and investment. The Commission President also advocates the need to restore European citizens’ confidence and focus the Commission’s policies on key challenges for economies and societies. Environmental protection does not feature as a priority for the new Commission, even though 95% of European citizens interviewed cherish the environment as an area personally important to them (Eurobarometer 2014). The only explicit mention of any environmental objective is in the third priority, which focuses on ‘a Resilient Energy Union with a Forward-Looking Climate Change Policy’, but even this makes only passing reference to the fight against global warming. Of the four instances of the word ‘environment’ in the Political Guidelines, only one refers to the natural environment, the remainder referring to investment, regulatory, and business environments (Juncker 2014a). The new President strongly advocates a ‘new collaborative way of working’, which entails a strong team cooperating across portfolios to develop more integrated and coordinated policies. To this end, Juncker has entrusted several policy areas to Vice-Presidents with the responsibility to direct and coordinate

Revisiting the Convention on Nuclear Safety: Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Accident

The Fukushima nuclear accident raised questions about the implementation of the Convention on Nuclear Safety by the Japanese government and identified the need to reassess the obligation of each contracting party deriving from the Convention and IAEA safety standards. The author analyzes several major deficiencies such as the lack of independence and effectiveness of the regulatory body, the failure to evaluate all relevant siteand design-related factors, and design and construction of the installation, as well as the emergency response, in order to determine the failure of the Japanese government to comply with the Convention and exercise the obligation of due diligence. As a result, the author demonstrates the fulfilment of two elements of state responsibility for nuclear damage. The author also establishes the ineffectiveness of the Convention’s preventive monitoring mechanisms and recommends the introduction of a stronger monitoring regime and highlights the need to amend the Convention safety rules. In its preliminary report six months after the Fukushima accident of 11 March 2011, some of the findings of the IAEA were that: The tsunami hazard for several sites was underestimated. Nuclear regulatory systems should address extreme external events adequately, including their periodic review, and should ensure that regulatory independence and clarity of roles are preserved in all circumstances in line with IAEA Safety Standards. The IAEA also found that, notwithstanding the fact that the catastrophe was caused by a natural disaster, there were, inter alia, serious deficiencies in the siting and design of the plant and the emergency readiness of the country, as well as an incomplete and imprecise legislative and regulatory framework. Thus, the nuclear accident raised questions about * Teaching Fellow, Law School, University of Birmingham, Visiting Professor at the Washington and Lee University, School of Law (August 2011 to January 2012). 1. International Atomic Energy Agency, ‘‘IAEA International Fact Finding Expert Mission of the Nuclear Accident Following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami: Preliminary Summary’’ (1 June 2011), online: IAEA /http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/fukushima/missionsummary010611.pdfS.

European environmental law

EU Environmental Law is a critical, comprehensive and engaging account of the essential and emerging issues in European environmental law and regulation today. Suitable for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students, the book delivers a thematic and contextual treatment of the subject for those taking courses in environmental law, environmental studies, regulation and public policy, and government and international relations. Placing the key issues in context, EU Environmental Law takes an interdisciplinary and thematic approach to help students to better understand the implementation and enforcement of environmental law and policy across Europe. It offers an accessible overview, and links theory with practical applications that will allow students to contextualise the outcomes of legal rules and their impact on public and private behaviours. It provides a definitive account of the subject, examining traditional topics such as nature conservation law, waste law and water law, alongside increasingly important fields such as the law of climate change, environmental human rights law, and regulation of GMOs and nanotechnology.

The Environmental Challenges of EU Enlargement: Implementing the Waste Acquis in Serbia

Although the implementation of the acquis is a crucial element of the EU integration process, it is recognised as its ‘weakest link’. The implementation deficit is especially apparent with the EU environmental acquis, both in the existing member states and the accession countries. Most recently, following the accession of Croatia, the EU faces prospective enlargement to other Western Balkans countries. The author argues that there are specific problems in implementing the environmental acquis in accession countries and that the case of Serbia, or other countries of the Western Balkans, is not particularly unique. The case study used to support this argument is the implementation of the waste acquis in Serbia as it represents a highly demanding and costly policy area for national authorities and the country faces extensive legal, institutional, economic and financial challenges in implementing the environmental acquis.