On Monday 7 July, the European Commission published its fourth Environmental Implementation Review. The first three reports were adopted in 2017, 2019 and 2022.
This fourth report puts the cost to the EU of not applying its environmental legislation at €180 billion a year, due to air and water pollution, degradation of nature and waste. This total represents around 1% of the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Improving the implementation of environmental legislation has been described as “urgent” by the European Commission. In fact, this survey of reports from the EU27 Member States revealed that significant progress still needs to be made in the application of legislation relating to: - circular economy (waste prevention and rehabilitation of non-compliant landfill sites); - water (risks of water shortages and droughts, urban wastewater treatment); - biodiversity (loss continues to outweigh recovery with the intensification of agriculture); - air pollution (sustainable mobility can improve air quality); - and climate (difficulties in implementing the Emissions Trading System in certain Member States).
The Commission has called on the Member States to make greater use of the funds made available to them by the EU to support their investments. It also pointed out that they can still “improve public access to the courts to challenge decisions, acts or omissions”. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)