Who Should Pay for Pollution? - The Relationship between the European Green Deal, State Aid for Environmental Protection, and the Polluter Pays Principle
(2021) JURM02 20211Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Europeiska Kommissionens riktlinjer för statligt stöd till miljöskydd och energi fungerar som rådgivande dokument till Medlemsstater när de utvecklar statliga stödåtgärder för miljöskydd och energi. Kommissionen har lagt till förslag att utvidga riktlinjernas räckvidd för att implementera den europeiska gröna given som fastställer målet för Europa att bli klimatneutralt 2050. Investeringsplanen inom den gröna given planerar även att mobilisera en biljon euro det kommande årtiondet. Statliga stödåtgärder för miljöskydd står i strid med förorenaren betalar principen funnen i Artikel 191(2) FEUF. Artikel 11 FEUF innebär även att där finns ett krav att i alla av Unionens aktiviteter och riktlinjer integrera miljöskyddskrav. Principen om att... (More)
- Europeiska Kommissionens riktlinjer för statligt stöd till miljöskydd och energi fungerar som rådgivande dokument till Medlemsstater när de utvecklar statliga stödåtgärder för miljöskydd och energi. Kommissionen har lagt till förslag att utvidga riktlinjernas räckvidd för att implementera den europeiska gröna given som fastställer målet för Europa att bli klimatneutralt 2050. Investeringsplanen inom den gröna given planerar även att mobilisera en biljon euro det kommande årtiondet. Statliga stödåtgärder för miljöskydd står i strid med förorenaren betalar principen funnen i Artikel 191(2) FEUF. Artikel 11 FEUF innebär även att där finns ett krav att i alla av Unionens aktiviteter och riktlinjer integrera miljöskyddskrav. Principen om att förorenaren ska betala är en utav dessa principer som ska integreras i riktlinjer vilket väcker frågan om hur statligt stöd för miljöskydd kan rättfärdigas.
Uppsatsen bedömer nuvarande riktlinjer baserat på deras effektivitet och relevans i ljuset av nuvarande miljömål för EU. Denna diskussion fastställer att de nuvarande instrumenten inte är tillräckliga baserade på nyligen ökade ambitioner för miljöskydd. Av detta följer en diskussion om hur statliga stödåtgärder kan bidra till miljöskydd. Denna diskussion behandlar hur förhållandet mellan principen om att förorenaren ska betala och statliga stödåtgärder för miljöskydd har hanterats förr och hur det verkar som att fokus skiftar i väg från principen. Slutligen diskuteras i vilket mån de nuvarande riktlinjerna har utrymme för att vidgas i enlighet med den gröna given. Denna diskussion avslutas genom att behandla frågan om hur detta stämmer överens med principen om att förorenaren ska betala.
Uppsatsen kommer fram till att där finns utrymme för förbättring och bidrar med förslag. Förbättring skulle kunna ske genom att statligt stöd enhetligt med den gröna givens investeringsplan ses som förenligt med den inre marknaden. Uppsatsen genom tolkningen av principen om att förorenaren ska betala finner två sätt att implementera den. Genom att främja en jämn spelplan för produktionssätt och teknologi med varierande mängder utsläpp på den inre marknaden implementeras principen. Spelplanen kan jämnas antingen genom att göra utsläppen dyrare eller göra teknologi och produktion med mindre eller utan utsläpp billigare. Uppsatsen kommer till slutsatsen att det bättre alternativet är att främja utvecklingen av miljövänligare alternativ. Detta för att förhindra att utsläppen flyttar utanför EU och att EU:s industri förblir konkurrenskraftig. Eventuellt när klimatneutralitet nås kommer marknadsmisslyckanden åtgärdas och statligt stöd kommer inte behövas. På dettas sätt kommer principen att förorenaren ska betala implementeras till fullo utan stora samhälleliga konsekvenser. (Less) - Abstract
- The European Commission’s guidelines on environmental protection and energy provide guidance for Member States to develop State aid schemes for certain environmental and energy measures. The Commission has proposed to broaden these guidelines in order to conform with the European Green Deal’s goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The European Green Deal Investment Plan also plans to mobilise at least one trillion EUR the next decade. State aid for environmental protection contradicts the polluter pays principle found in Article 191(2) TFEU. Adding further to this there is an obligation to integrate environmental protection requirements into the definition and implementation of the Union’s policies and activities.
This integration... (More) - The European Commission’s guidelines on environmental protection and energy provide guidance for Member States to develop State aid schemes for certain environmental and energy measures. The Commission has proposed to broaden these guidelines in order to conform with the European Green Deal’s goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The European Green Deal Investment Plan also plans to mobilise at least one trillion EUR the next decade. State aid for environmental protection contradicts the polluter pays principle found in Article 191(2) TFEU. Adding further to this there is an obligation to integrate environmental protection requirements into the definition and implementation of the Union’s policies and activities.
This integration obligation includes the polluter pays principle which raises the question of how to justify the granting of State aid for environmental protection in light of the principle.
This thesis evaluates the current guidelines based on their effectiveness and their relevance based on current EU environmental objectives. As a result of this discussion, it is established that there is a need for State aid to contribute further, which raises the question of how the environmental considerations can be integrated into State aid policy. This is the second point of discussion that this thesis covers. This part of the thesis discusses the past relationship between the polluter pays principle and State aid for environmental protection and the apparent shift away from the focus on the principle. Finally, the thesis discusses how the current guidelines have room to be broadened to promote coherency with the European Green Deal objectives. This discussion also covers how the increase in scope can not only be consistent with the polluter pays principle but even support its integration.
The thesis concludes that there is room for State aid to further promote the objectives of the European Green Deal. This could be accomplished by granting aid consistent with the sustainable investment policies established in the Sustainable EU Investment Plan. There are two main methods for implementing the polluter pays principle found in the thesis. These are by levelling the playing-field in the internal market between undertakings with varying levels of pollution. The playing field can be levelled by either increasing the cost for technology or processes with negative externalities or by making environmentally friendlier alternatives more competitive. The thesis concludes that the most reasonable approach is to focus resources on promoting production or technology with fewer negative externalities in order to keep European industry competitive and preventing carbon leakage. As long as the State aid is granted on a limited basis with the goal of phasing out subsidies once negative externalities have been internalized, then the distortion of competition would be kept to a minimum and the market failure linked to negative externalities rectified. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9046233
- author
- Lilja Jensen, Zacharias LU
- supervisor
-
- Julian Nowag LU
- organization
- course
- JURM02 20211
- year
- 2021
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- EU-rätt, EU law, konkurrensrätt, State aid, Statliga stödåtgärder, Polluter pays principle, förorenaren betalar principen
- language
- English
- id
- 9046233
- date added to LUP
- 2021-06-09 11:56:44
- date last changed
- 2021-06-09 11:56:44
@misc{9046233,
abstract = {{The European Commission’s guidelines on environmental protection and energy provide guidance for Member States to develop State aid schemes for certain environmental and energy measures. The Commission has proposed to broaden these guidelines in order to conform with the European Green Deal’s goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The European Green Deal Investment Plan also plans to mobilise at least one trillion EUR the next decade. State aid for environmental protection contradicts the polluter pays principle found in Article 191(2) TFEU. Adding further to this there is an obligation to integrate environmental protection requirements into the definition and implementation of the Union’s policies and activities.
This integration obligation includes the polluter pays principle which raises the question of how to justify the granting of State aid for environmental protection in light of the principle.
This thesis evaluates the current guidelines based on their effectiveness and their relevance based on current EU environmental objectives. As a result of this discussion, it is established that there is a need for State aid to contribute further, which raises the question of how the environmental considerations can be integrated into State aid policy. This is the second point of discussion that this thesis covers. This part of the thesis discusses the past relationship between the polluter pays principle and State aid for environmental protection and the apparent shift away from the focus on the principle. Finally, the thesis discusses how the current guidelines have room to be broadened to promote coherency with the European Green Deal objectives. This discussion also covers how the increase in scope can not only be consistent with the polluter pays principle but even support its integration.
The thesis concludes that there is room for State aid to further promote the objectives of the European Green Deal. This could be accomplished by granting aid consistent with the sustainable investment policies established in the Sustainable EU Investment Plan. There are two main methods for implementing the polluter pays principle found in the thesis. These are by levelling the playing-field in the internal market between undertakings with varying levels of pollution. The playing field can be levelled by either increasing the cost for technology or processes with negative externalities or by making environmentally friendlier alternatives more competitive. The thesis concludes that the most reasonable approach is to focus resources on promoting production or technology with fewer negative externalities in order to keep European industry competitive and preventing carbon leakage. As long as the State aid is granted on a limited basis with the goal of phasing out subsidies once negative externalities have been internalized, then the distortion of competition would be kept to a minimum and the market failure linked to negative externalities rectified.}},
author = {{Lilja Jensen, Zacharias}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Who Should Pay for Pollution? - The Relationship between the European Green Deal, State Aid for Environmental Protection, and the Polluter Pays Principle}},
year = {{2021}},
}