ABSTRACT
Between 1976 and 2019, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) delivered about 1,200 judgements on environmental matters, more than half of them initiated by the European Commission against a member state. Most of them have dealt with the omission to transpose the requirements of EU environmental law into the national provisions, or the incomplete or incorrect transposition of EU environmental law. Cases relating to the inadequate practical application of EU law in the member states are less frequent. In general, the ECJ has tended to side with the environment; it has developed a considerable number of innovative arguments in order to ensure that EU environmental law and principles are applied. Most of its judgements have managed to strike the right balance between the diverging economic and ecological interests. However, it remains difficult for individual persons and environmental organisations to bring cases before the ECJ themselves.
