ABSTRACT
The enforceability of European environmental law before courts in the United Kingdom (UK) has encouraged individuals in the belief that in certain respects they have a right to a clean environment, and in certain respects they are right. It is possible to identify two phases in the adaptation of environmental law in the UK to the requirements of European law. The current situation is one in which environmental law in the UK has become significantly Europeanized, not only because Directives have been transposed into national law. The Regulations in other respects follow the pattern of laying down a framework in national law which incorporates important definitions and requirements verbatim from the directive. This chapter offers as important examples bathing and drinking water quality standards, waste management, and the protection of habitats. The Directive contemplates an exercise resulting in a list of sites of Community importance being adopted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure specified in the Directive.
