Principen att förorenaren betalar i EU - Betalar förorenaren verkligen? - En analys av principens utveckling med anledning av EU:s miljöansvarsdirektiv
(2022) JURM02 20221Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Principen att förorenaren betalar är en central miljörättslig princip som innebär att den som orsakat en förorening eller miljöskada ska vara ekonomiskt ansvarig för att denna återställs eller saneras. Principen är emellertid svår att tillämpa i praktiken. Den största svårigheten vid tillämpningen har varit hur ”förorenaren” och ” förorening” ska identifieras och definieras eftersom gemenskapslagstiftningen varit splittrad och inte särskilt detaljerad. Ytterligare problematik har gällt tillämpligheten av principen på grund av dess oklara status i den internationella sedvanerätten.
2004 trädde ett direktiv om miljöansvar i kraft i vilken principen direkt kodifierades. Genom att bli lagstadgad i ett direktiv var förhoppningen att... (More) - Principen att förorenaren betalar är en central miljörättslig princip som innebär att den som orsakat en förorening eller miljöskada ska vara ekonomiskt ansvarig för att denna återställs eller saneras. Principen är emellertid svår att tillämpa i praktiken. Den största svårigheten vid tillämpningen har varit hur ”förorenaren” och ” förorening” ska identifieras och definieras eftersom gemenskapslagstiftningen varit splittrad och inte särskilt detaljerad. Ytterligare problematik har gällt tillämpligheten av principen på grund av dess oklara status i den internationella sedvanerätten.
2004 trädde ett direktiv om miljöansvar i kraft i vilken principen direkt kodifierades. Genom att bli lagstadgad i ett direktiv var förhoppningen att principen skulle få en högre genomslagskraft och att det skulle bidra till att minska mängden förorenade områden i EU. Även direktivet visade sig dock var svårt att tolka och tillämpa. Det tog lång tid att diskutera fram ett lagförslag och medlemsstaterna hade svårt att komma överens. Slutprodukten blev därför ett direktiv med en tydlig karaktär av ramlag. Flera av besluten gällande definitioner och omfång lämnades i medlemsstaternas händer vilket inneburit en ojämn tillämpning i de olika staterna.
Genom att analysera rättspraxis från EU-domstolen både före och efter direktivets ikraftträdande har det undersökts vilken förändring av principens tillämpning direktivet medfört. Analysen visar att direktivet har erbjudit ett avhjälpande av de tidigare problemen, i synnerhet med att identifiera förorenaren. Det har även gjort det lättare att vidga kretsen ansvariga och därigenom säkerställa att miljöskador faktiskt återställs. Direktivet har emellertid medfört en del ny problematik som innebär att det inte nödvändigtvis inneburit att tillämpningen av principen blivit mer omfattande. Ett flertal nya begrepp har visat sig svårtolkade för medlemsstaterna. Direktivet föreskriver vidare en hel del undantag som innebär att dess omfattning blivit relativt begränsad. Det stora handlingsutrymme som medlemsstaterna hade vid införlivandet var även problematiskt eftersom dess genomslag blev högst beroende av medlemsstatens ambitionsnivå gällande miljöskyddet.
Allteftersom EU-domstolen har ställts inför fler mål har principen och direktivets definitioner konkretiserats ytterligare. Slutsatsen kan dras att direktivet är ett pågående arbete som inte ännu nått sin fulla potential men som, om det tillåts utvecklas åt samma håll som det gjort hittills, kan bli ett oerhört viktigt instrument för att förhindra och åtgärda miljöskador. (Less) - Abstract
- The polluter-pays principle is an environmental legal principle of utmost importance. It means that the person responsible for environmental damage or pollution should be the one financially responsible for restoring it. The principle is however, difficult to carry out in practice. The biggest difficulty has been to identify and define the “polluter” and the “pollution”. One of the reasons for this is that the European legislation on the matter has been scattered and not very detailed. Another issue has concerned the enforcement of the principle because of its uncertain status in international customary law.
In 2004 a directive concerning environmental liability entered into force which meant that the principle was explicitly... (More) - The polluter-pays principle is an environmental legal principle of utmost importance. It means that the person responsible for environmental damage or pollution should be the one financially responsible for restoring it. The principle is however, difficult to carry out in practice. The biggest difficulty has been to identify and define the “polluter” and the “pollution”. One of the reasons for this is that the European legislation on the matter has been scattered and not very detailed. Another issue has concerned the enforcement of the principle because of its uncertain status in international customary law.
In 2004 a directive concerning environmental liability entered into force which meant that the principle was explicitly prescribed by law. In doing so the hope was that the principle would be more enforceable and that this would contribute to reducing the amount of polluted areas in the EU. However, the directive turned out to be difficult to interpret and carry out. Presenting a bill proposition took years of discussion and the member states found it hard to agree on a number of points. The end product thus became a framework directive. Many decisions regarding definitions and the scope of the directive were left in the hands of the member states. This meant that the directive was implemented quite differently in the member states.
By analysing case law from the Court of Justice of the EU, both before and after the directive’s entry into force, an investigation has been undertaken regarding whether the directive changed the enforcement of the principle in any way. The analysis shows that the directive offered some remedy to the earlier issues, especially with defining the polluter. It also made it easier to widen the circle of potential liable polluters, thus ensuring that environmental damage is actually restored. However, the directive brought some new issues, meaning that it has not necessarily ensured a more extensive application of the principle. Some new concepts turned out to be hard to interpret by the member states. Furthermore the directive prescribes a number of exceptions, meaning that the scope has been somewhat limited. The member states’ large room for their own interpretations was also problematic since the enforcement of the principle became very much dependent on the member states’ own ambition regarding environmental protection.
As the Court has presented more judgments on the matter, the polluter-pays principle and the definitions of the directive have become increasingly clear. The conclusion can thus be drawn that the directive is a work in progress that has not yet reached its full potential. However, if it is allowed to develop in the same directions as it has this far, it can be a truly vital instrument for preventing and remediating environmental damage. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9080486
- author
- Partoft, Kajsa LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- The Polluter-Pays Principle in the EU - does the polluter truly pay? - An analysis of the principle's development in light of the liability directive
- course
- JURM02 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Miljörätt, EU-rätt, internationell miljörätt
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9080486
- date added to LUP
- 2022-06-14 10:45:52
- date last changed
- 2022-07-07 13:51:55
@misc{9080486,
abstract = {{The polluter-pays principle is an environmental legal principle of utmost importance. It means that the person responsible for environmental damage or pollution should be the one financially responsible for restoring it. The principle is however, difficult to carry out in practice. The biggest difficulty has been to identify and define the “polluter” and the “pollution”. One of the reasons for this is that the European legislation on the matter has been scattered and not very detailed. Another issue has concerned the enforcement of the principle because of its uncertain status in international customary law.
In 2004 a directive concerning environmental liability entered into force which meant that the principle was explicitly prescribed by law. In doing so the hope was that the principle would be more enforceable and that this would contribute to reducing the amount of polluted areas in the EU. However, the directive turned out to be difficult to interpret and carry out. Presenting a bill proposition took years of discussion and the member states found it hard to agree on a number of points. The end product thus became a framework directive. Many decisions regarding definitions and the scope of the directive were left in the hands of the member states. This meant that the directive was implemented quite differently in the member states.
By analysing case law from the Court of Justice of the EU, both before and after the directive’s entry into force, an investigation has been undertaken regarding whether the directive changed the enforcement of the principle in any way. The analysis shows that the directive offered some remedy to the earlier issues, especially with defining the polluter. It also made it easier to widen the circle of potential liable polluters, thus ensuring that environmental damage is actually restored. However, the directive brought some new issues, meaning that it has not necessarily ensured a more extensive application of the principle. Some new concepts turned out to be hard to interpret by the member states. Furthermore the directive prescribes a number of exceptions, meaning that the scope has been somewhat limited. The member states’ large room for their own interpretations was also problematic since the enforcement of the principle became very much dependent on the member states’ own ambition regarding environmental protection.
As the Court has presented more judgments on the matter, the polluter-pays principle and the definitions of the directive have become increasingly clear. The conclusion can thus be drawn that the directive is a work in progress that has not yet reached its full potential. However, if it is allowed to develop in the same directions as it has this far, it can be a truly vital instrument for preventing and remediating environmental damage.}},
author = {{Partoft, Kajsa}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Principen att förorenaren betalar i EU - Betalar förorenaren verkligen? - En analys av principens utveckling med anledning av EU:s miljöansvarsdirektiv}},
year = {{2022}},
}