ABSTRACT
The Environmental Policy of the European Union (EU) has the potential to be the most important integrative mechanism in the protection of the European environment. The inclusion of a chapter on the environment in the 1987 Single European Act (SEA) and the additional articles in the Treaty on European Union (TEU) have given environmental policy a firm legal basis within the European Union. The accession of Sweden and Finland, which both maintain high levels of environmental awareness could be seen as an important step forward in ensuring that potential becomes reality. However, the main argument of this chapter is that the 1995 Nordic enlargement will be a disappointment for many environmentalists within the EU and that the new Nordic EU members will not be a catalyst for a significant improvement in environmental standards. The objectives of this chapter are: first, to outline the achievements of the European Union’s environmental policy; second, briefly to review and identify the differences between the environmental protection policies of Finland and Sweden and the European Union; and third, to assess the impact of the new Nordic members on the future development of the EU’s environmental policy.
