The Human Rights Dimension of Environmental Protection in EU External Relations Post-Lisbon

Abstract

The paper draws on pertinent case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to analyze the human rights dimension of environmental protection in EU external relations post-Lisbon. It suggests that the European Union may, through the institutionalization of ‘domestic’ regulatory regimes with extraterritorial effect, incur human rights obligations towards individuals in third countries affected by its external environmental policies. After some general reflections on the relationship between human rights and environmental protection in their internal and external dimensions, the paper discusses the growing body of ECtHR case-law on human rights protection in the environmental sphere within the EU legal order, followed by a more tentative analysis of the potential impact of the European Convention on environmental policies and regulations on EU external relations. The concluding remarks place the doctrinal analysis in its broader normative and policy context.