Over the last thirty years, the EU has adopted a series of policies and initiatives related to the environment which have played a key role in reducing pressures on the local and regional environment, helping to improve habitat and species protection and river management, and contributing to improvements in air and water quality and waste management in Europe. EU policy was initially focused on controlling pollution from point sources, through ‘end of pipe’ legislation. This focus has gradually moved towards tackling the underlying causes of environmental damage and integrating environmental considerations in key economic sectors like agriculture, transport and energy. The scope of EU environmental policy has also widened from a rather inward looking approach towards embracing a growing leadership role in global environmental governance.

The majority of EU environmental policy is agreed at the Community level, thus environmental priorities are no longer under exclusive domestic control. Member States are required to implement EU legislation or ultimately face fines for non-compliance. The legal basis for EU action on the environment is provided in the treaties, which set broad objectives of EU environmental policy (Articles 191–193 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU)and provide the Community with competence to act in all areas of environmental policy. However, in practice, the scope of the Community’s intervention is limited by the principle of subsidiarity (which restricts EU action to those areas where it can be more effective than national or regional action) and the requirement for unanimous voting in the Council in a limited number of sensitive areas (e.g. green taxation, town and country planning, land use, choice of energy sources and structure of energy supply). The Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force on 1 December 2009, gives a strong legal mandate for the EU to pursue its objective of sustainable development both within and outside Europe, integrates fisheries in the Agriculture Chapter of the Treaty and formally makes energy policy a shared competence between the EU and the Member States.

Despite the growth in EU environment policy and its considerable achievements to date, the European environment continues to face a number of significant challenges. Since 2005, tackling climate change has become the highest profile issue on the agenda, however many other issues remain, including halting the loss of biodiversity, reducing the EU’s absolute level of natural resource use, promoting more sustainable consumption and production patterns; reducing waste and encouraging more recycling; reducing industrial pollution, tackling transport emissions and improving air quality. A number of new concerns are arising (e.g. climate adaptation), new instruments are being developed (e.g. climate, soil, invasive alien species), existing instruments are under regular review and amendment (e.g. the Common Agricultural Policy, the Common Fisheries Policy) and certain policies in place face implementation challenges (e.g. water framework Directive, Natura 2000). Further, well-focused effort is required to meet existing targets and aspirations and to agree new actions and objectives that will improve the environment and quality of life in Europe.