Harmonisation of Law, internal market and environment

the challenge of implementing the green deal

Abstract

Although it was not mentioned in the 1957 Treaty of Rome, environmental concerns have, through the various treaty reforms, gradually been able to establish themselves as one of the greatest values enshrined in the treaties. Henceforth, environmental protection is not only a core objective of the Union, it has also been placed on equal footing with economic growth and the internal market. The choice of legal basis of EU measures aiming at protecting the environment represents a critical juncture in relations between institutions, as well as the relations between the Member States and the EU. It is not the case that every single provision even remotely relating to environmental issues has been passed under the only chapter of the Treaty dedicated to environmental policy. As the EU harmonisation measures aim at avoiding distortions of competition between undertakings, a significant number of product-oriented directives and regulations which have a direct impact on the internal market, and in particular those which lay down product standards, have been adopted on the base of Article 114 TFEU, a provision empowering the EU institutions to enact all measures affecting the establishment and the functioning of the internal market.

It is thus the aim of this article to assess in line with the new regulatory developments stemming from the Green Deal whether the environment benefits from a greater level of protection thanks to the recourse to the genuine environmental basis (Article 192 TFEU), or thanks to the internal market legal basis (Article 114 TFEU).