Horizontal Instruments

Abstract

Abstract Horizontal instruments are policy mechanisms that can be applied across a wide range of economic sectors and ecological problems. They are generic policy instruments that can be adapted to numerous contexts, ranging from nature conservation, pollution control, natural resource management, and so on. Up to now, the four main horizontal instruments used in European Community (EC) environmental law were environmental impact assessment, public participation in environmental decision-making, eco-management and auditing systems, and environmental labelling. In recent years, there have been significant reforms to expand the use of these mechanisms in EC environmental law. Most importantly however, 2004 marks the adoption of a seminal new horizontal instrument, the long-awaited EC Directive on environmental liability, which is the focus of the following section. The prevention and remedying of environmental damage are among the most pressing environmental policy issues confronting industrial societies. Environmental liability is a foundational horizontal policy tool that enables responsibility for environmental damage to be assigned in a variety of contexts including water pollution, contamination of soil, and damage to wildlife. Environmental liability standards serve to specify the conduct or situations that incur responsibility and the means of remedying that damage. Thereby, liability standards may also deter future environmentally risk activities.