The Uneasy Relationship between EU Environmental and Economic Policies, and the Role of the CJEU

Abstract

This paper considers the constitutional imperative to integrate environmental protection requirements into the EU's economic policies, and examines how this has been operationalized in practice. It argues that, compared to the other EU institutions, the CJEU has continued to demonstrate leadership in giving effect to the integration imperative in the economic context. This is evidenced by a raft of recent judgments on the environment/economic interface, which in turn are coming before the Court due to the popularity, at Member State and EU levels, of market-based environmental instruments. Overall, the CJEU has shown itself to be a constitutionalist actor which is serious about the requirement to achieve real, substantive integration of environmental protection requirements into the EU’s economic policies, as required by Article 11 TFEU.