Overview of activities of the EC in the field of products and the environment

Abstract

'Product' is one of the most important words in the European Community policy and legislation. The European Communities, founded in the Fifties, were based on free circulation of products among Member States as one of the fundamental rules. Environmental protection, if at all pursued by Member States, was pursued by means of national environmental laws. Such laws were seen as obstacles to the completion of the internal market. Since its foundation, the EC evolved considerably. The original Treaty was amended several times. In particular,. over time it became clear that a Community product policy could not only relate to the free circulation issue or to safety requirements but had to encompass also environmental aspects. Environment became officially a Community competence in 1987, with the entry into force of the Single European Act. However, already in the Seventies, Community institutions had proposed and adopted regulations dealing with environmental aspects of products. The linkages between an internal market without frontier and the protection of the environment became evident in the early Seventies: in 1972 the Head of States and Governments of the Member States decided that it was time to act jointly in order to preserve the environment. The First Environmental Action Programme was launched, and ever since the Member States backed a common framework for action in the field of environment (Community Action Programmes) as well as the adoption of specific environmental measures.