ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an analysis of the evolution of European Union (EU) policy and legislation in the environmental field. In the endeavour to further improving legitimacy and democracy in the EU law-making system, the Treaty of Amsterdam broadened the policy areas governed by the co-decision procedure which, with some exceptions for certain politically sensitive areas, became the standard procedure for environmental law-making. Besides defining the priority objectives of EU environmental policy for the period from 2013 up to 2020, the Seventh Environmental Action Programme (EAP) identifies the main challenges hampering the effectiveness of environmental law. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has, since the beginning, played a fundamental role in the development and consolidation of environmental policy in the EU. The Lisbon Treaty provides, indeed, multiple references to the principle of consistency as a general principle of European policy and actions internally as well as in the field of external relations.
