The Role of the Environment Action Programmes of the European Union in the Development of EU Environmental Policy

Abstract

The European Union by its sui generis character of supranational structure having its own law and institutions as a power above national states, has aimed the integration target while developing environmental policies like other policy fields. 1970s were the awareness period of environmental degradation for the sake of economic development in the world. That period also became awakening years for the European Union from the perspective of environmental protection. EU Member States have become to take common actions in environmental issues like other many fields. The Second World War did not only damage human and economic capacity of the European Continent but also deteriorated the European environment. Not much later of the establishment of the European Economic Community, EU introduced many legal and administrative arrangements from preventive to protective.

Environment action programmes have been the basis for the European Union in order to develop its environmental policies. EU has introduced seven environment action programmes so far. Each of them covers a specific period of time. While the first programme was covering the period of 1973 – 1976, the final (seventh) programme covers the period of 2014 – 2020.

Keywords

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References

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8. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/archives/env-act5/envirpr.html website. Third Programme was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 17 February 1983.

9. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/archives/env-act5/envirpr.html website. Fourth Programme was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 7 December 1987.
10. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/archives/env-act5/envirpr.html website. Fifth Programme was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 17 May 1993.
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