ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 considered how sustainable development could be applied through the precautionary principle to promote environmental protection in the EU legal order. It noted the specific methods of transposition in the EU: through policy and legislative documents as an objective of EU law; through administrative actions; and through the effect of the case decisions in the Court. These methods of transposition are considered again in this chapter in examining the application of the polluter pays principle. The polluter pays principle can capably transpose sustainable development through EU law, policy, and practice primarily to address economic aspects of sustainability. The economic aspects relate to the reliance on market and non-market mechanisms, internalisation- and incentive-based economic instruments and measures that balance economic interests for regional pollution regulation and ultimately worldwide environmental problems. The premise is that sustainable development, in EU law and policy, is associated closely with the development of environmental law and policy, which is built on a framework of principles and the polluter pays is key for economic regulation to achieve environmental policy objectives. The rationale of the polluter pays principle is that environmental damage should, as a priority, be rectified at the source and that the polluter should pay (Article 191(2)).
