ABSTRACT
Over the last 50 years, environmental protection has emerged as one of the front-ranking objectives of the EU. Today, the EU has some of the world’s most ambitious and comprehensive protection policies. This chapter begins by summarising the main characteristics of EU environmental policy. Second, it reflects on the challenges that the advocates of EU action overcame to build such a significant environmental role. It then analyses how and why the focus of policy making in recent decades has shifted away from securing the EU’s legal authority to act, to more managerial priorities such as ensuring that existing policy is fully implemented and insightfully updated. Finally, it looks forward and identifies what is likely to challenge policy makers in the coming decades as the EU attempts to implement its bold Green Deal policies in the aftermath of the COVID-19 global pandemic.
