EU Environmental and Planning Law Aspects of Large-Scale Projects

Abstract

This book is the second volume in the European Environmental Law Forum (EELF) Book Series. The EELF is a non-profit initiative of environmental law scholars and practitioners from across Europe aiming to support intellectual exchange on the development and implementation of international, European and national environmental law in Europe. One of the activities of the EELF is an annual conference. This book bundles 16 contributions from those presented during the Second EELF Conference in Brussels, jointly hosted by Hasselt University and KU Leuven, Campus Brussels, from 10 to 12 September 2014. The central topic of the book is ‘Environmental and Planning Law Aspects of Large-Scale Projects’. The contributions focus on the struggle of balancing economic development with environmental protection. Governments, companies, environmental associations and citizens all over the European Union are struggling with large-scale projects. On the one hand large-scale projects can contribute to economic development; on the other hand they often also raise environmental concerns. Because of their size and potential impact, large-scale projects usually lead to heavy debates and quickly become of great symbolic value. Consequently, large-scale projects are excellent examples of the difficulty of balancing economic development with environmental protection.