National Environmental Legislation Research Articles

Spatial Analyses in the Planning of Quiet Areas: A Case Study of Radom and Lublin (Poland)

The 2020 Environmental Noise in Europe report shows that a vast majority of European countries have legal definitions of quiet areas and criteria for their designation. As much as 60% of them have designated at least one quiet area in their territory and have taken measures to protect the acoustic climate in these areas. In Poland, although the instrument was introduced in the national environmental legislation, guidelines for delimitation have not been defined yet in the form of a binding legal act. The objective of this article is to propose the method for identifying quiet areas through spatial analysis and present it on the example of two cities—Radom and Lublin. These cities represent different approaches to the designation of quiet areas. This work is a continuation of the survey conducted and published by the authors in 2023. At the outset, the legislation and literature on the subject were analysed. Based on that, the conditions that potential quiet areas must meet were determined. Spatial analyses were then conducted for the quiet areas proposed earlier in the survey and in the environmental noise programme to see if the criteria selected by the authors were actually met in these areas: acoustic, functional, related to land cover, size, as well as temporal, spatial and transport accessibility, and location, including distances from areas with the highest noise emissions and adequate population density. Quiet areas are forest areas, public green areas, and surface water areas with recreational functions. The criteria for the elimination of the selected quiet areas were mainly location related (distance from main roads and population density). The accessibility of the quiet areas is also important. A method devised by the authors enables the delimitation of quiet areas in cities. Furthermore, this method is primarily based on publicly available data, which makes it applicable to other cities as well.

Implementation of the Ecosystem Services Concept in the Environmental Legislation of Ukraine: Current State and Prospects

The article outlines the general principles of the concept of ecosystem services and examines the current state and prospects of its implementation in national environmental legislation. It is established that the need to introduce this concept has already been envisaged by a number of strategic programmatic documents, headed by the “Basic Principles (Strategy) of the State Environmental Policy of Ukraine for the Period up to 2030”, but this concept is still not reflected at the level of key environmental legal acts, in particular, the Law of Ukraine “On Environmental Protection” and resource-specific codes and laws which not only lack any mention of ecosystem services, but also hardly ever use the term “ecosystem” at all. It is proved that one of the ways to implement the concept of ecosystem services in Ukraine is to develop an appropriate legal framework, namely: The Law of Ukraine “On Ecosystem Services” and other related bylaws, which should be done in the near future. At the same time, it is substantiated that in addition to the adoption of new legislation in this area, it is extremely important to analyze the current environmental legislation through the prism of the ecosystem approach and make appropriate changes and additions to it, since only under such conditions can legislative gaps and conflicts be avoided and a coherent model for implementing the concept of ecosystem services be developed, which in the current realities of the armed aggression of the russian federation will help to assess and take into account all the damage caused to the environment of Ukraine.

Legal problems of the production of agricultural raw materials for baby food

The article analyzes modern legal problems of the production of agricultural raw materials for baby food in Ukraine, taking into account the latest legislative changes in the field of baby food production, organic agricultural production, state control over the use of genetically modified organisms in the manufacture of food products.
 It has been established that the improvement of the legislation in the field of child nutrition should be carried out by making amendments and additions to the Law of Ukraine «On Child Nutrition» in order to bring its prescriptions into line with EU requirements, and not to cancel the specified special Law. Given the specifics of baby food and the importance of guaranteeing its quality and safety, replacing a separate special law with one article in the Law of Ukraine «On Basic Principles and Requirements for the Safety and Quality of Food Products» is hardly expedient.
 Taking into account the specific legal nature of a personal peasant economy, the author proves that persons who run such an economy can produce raw materials for baby food products, subject to compliance with legal requirements for the quality and safety of such raw materials. Based on the latest legislative changes in the field of legal provision of biosafety of Ukraine, the article proposes to legislate the possibility and necessity of using organic agricultural products as raw materials for baby food before creating an effective system of state control in the field of use and circulation of genetically modified organisms.
 In order to ensure the constitutional right of the child to sufficient, high-quality and safe nutrition, the author considers it expedient to conduct in-depth scientific research on these issues and make appropriate scientific conclusions and recommendations on improving the current legislation in this area, taking into account the requirements of EU legislation on the adaptation of the national agricultural, food, environmental and other legislation regarding the production of agricultural products for baby food.

THE ROLE AND PLACE OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY AND DEFENSE COUNCIL AMONG ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY ENTITIES

The issue of state regulation of the environmental safety system was considered. It has been established that the potential of the environmental protection system in Ukraine has not been realized. The need to define the main tasks of state regulation in the environmental sphere is substantiated. Priority areas of state support have been formed for the purpose of developing the system for ensuring environmental safety. It was concluded that in ensuring environmental safety in the field of national security and defense, state regulation of the environmental protection industry should ensure the concentration of necessary resources on meeting priority needs, which will allow the adoption and implementation of management decisions on the formation and implementation of national environmental legislation in the system of collective security. The implementation of the state program for the development of environmental intelligence should include the entire set of necessary measures, united by a common goal, related to performers, resources and deadlines, which will enable the implementation of the tasks of creation and functioning within the framework of the concept of ensuring environmental security in Ukraine.

Environmental protection standards of the EU - national and regional realities

The purpose of the work are assess of the current state of protected areas of the Ternopil region territorial communities and comparison of these parameters with the environmental standards of the European Union. Methods. Generalisation and systematisation of information, evaluation, comparison, method of analogies and typologies, statistical, mathematical, cartographic and geoinformation. Scientific novelty. The main geoecological, economic and legal problems related to the prospects for the development of nature conservation at the national and regional levels are identified. These include the lack of motivation in management structures, low environmental culture of the population, insufficient funding for environmental protection, and the existence of different forms of land ownership. The level of conservation of territorial communities and new administrative districts of the Ternopil region is determined. Results. Analysed by national and international environmental legislation and identifies the main causes of Ukraine's environmental problems, including military operations. Based on the comparative analysis, the authors compares the basic environmental parameters of Ukraine and the European Union, which demonstrate their significant differences. The level of conservation and the number of protected areas of the Ternopil region territorial communities are determined. The data obtained showed that 36.5% of the region's territorial communities have a conservation level of less than 1%. The situation with the low level of conservation is unsatisfactory in sixteen communities in the Ternopil district and four communities in the Kremenets and Chortkiv districts. Typological groups have been created and a corresponding map of the reserve status of the Ternopil region territorial communities has been constructed. It is proposed to create fifty-three new protected areas in twenty-five communities of the Ternopil region with a total area of 39358 hectares. The expediency of creating thirteen regional landscape parks, twenty-three hydrological natural monuments of local significance, six parks of landscape art monuments, four landscape reserves, four botanical natural monuments of local significance and three protected tracts is substantiated. Conclusions. It has been established that the level of conservation of the Ternopil region territorial communities does not meet the current requirements of the European Strategy for the Conservation of Landscape and Biotic Diversity. In order to achieve international standards of protected areas and waters, the region needs to create both large protected areas – regional landscape and national nature parks – and local protection zones for hydrological objects, individual trees or landscapes. For this purpose, it is necessary to intensify scientific research of local and regional natural complexes. And the administrative staff of territorial communities should include a position responsible for landscaping, sustainable development and nature protection.

Analysis of environmental legislative restrictions of Kazakhstan in the context of international trade relations

The purpose of this study is a legal assessment of changes in environmental law in the context of foreign trade relations. In the course of this study, author used legal analysis and statistical legal method, which consisted of review and synthesis of the legal framework for environmental protection, analysis of its changes and the impact on environmental and trade indicators. Subsequently author examined the effect of environmental law reforms on foreign trade performance and built a model studying effect of environmental law improvements on trade performance of harmful sub- stances and emissions. This study gives us an opportunity to conclude that the har- monization of national environmental legislation with the standards established by the world community affects the structure of trade turnover, giving preference to green economy products by replacing products containing harmful substances. This work contributes to the process of implementing changes into international treaty and trade law, provides an opportunity to review shortcomings in environmental laws and acts at the national level and helps the institutions to make the right deci- sions to refine them.

Ensuring the human rights to a healthy environment: normative regulation and practice of the ECtHR

This article examines the regulatory practice and the practice of the ECtHR in ensuring the right to a healthy environment. At the present stage of humankind, the question of understanding a person as part of an ecosystem is increasingly being raised. In this regard, it is important to emphasize that the current state of international legal regulation of environmental relations strongly indicates the need for serious reforms to international environmental law, primarily in terms of increasing the effectiveness of existing mechanisms for environmental cooperation between states and creating new mechanisms for such cooperation. It has been established that environmental rights are implemented primarily through the formation of international policy and legislation, especially the EU’s strategic position on the environment. This was legally enshrined in the Treaty on the European Community, which declared the EU’s aspirations for a high degree of protection, improving the quality of the environment and people’s standard of living. Over time, this became a starting point for the environmental policy and law of the EU, and then a duty for the implementation of national environmental legislation. It is indicated that the scientific recognition and normative consolidation of environmental rights in international law are important for the development of international ideological concepts of environmental protection, based on the ideas of solving environmental problems in the interests of the individual and all humankind. This is also salient for the formation of a system of international environmental law. A striking example of an international treaty that secures environmental human rights is the Convention of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-​Making and Access to Justice on Environmental Issues, adopted on 25 June 1998, in Aarhus, Denmark (the Aarhus Convention). This identified three main types of environmental rights considered as important factors in the development of democracy: public access to environmental information; public participation in the decision-​making process on environmental issues; public access to justice on environmental issues. These rights are implemented primarily through the formation of international environmental policy and international environmental legislation, especially the EU’s strategic position on the environment. This was legally enshrined in the Treaty on the European Community, which declared the EU’s aspirations for a high degree of protection, improving the quality of the environment and people’s standard of living. Over time, it became a starting point for the environmental policy and law of the EU, and then a duty for the implementation of national environmental legislation.

Legal support for an environmentally balanced system of natural resource management in terms of European integration of Ukraine

Legal support for an environmentally balanced system of natural resource management in terms of European integration of Ukraine

MONITORING OF CONTAMINATION OF URBAN SURFACE WATERS IN THE CITY OF CAMPO GRANDE/MS BY HORMONES 17β-ESTRADIOL AND 17α-ETHINYLESTRADIOL USING DISPERSIVE LIQUID-LIQUID MICROEXTRACTION AND HPLC-UV

Studies have shown that hormones have endocrine disrupting properties, which characterize them as potentially toxic to the aquatic environment. This study aims to monitor the water along Prosa Stream/Anhanduí River monthly, to evaluate its contamination by the hormones 17β-estradiol (E2) and 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2). Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) was used for analyte extraction, with acetone as a disperser solvent and carbon tetrachloride as the extraction solvent, followed by high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detector (HPLC-UV) as the analytical tool. The results of this application in natural samples indicated the presence of the natural hormone E2 in approximately 72% of the points evaluated, with its concentration values between 48 µg L-1 and 175 µg L-1. In contrast, it was not possible to quantify the concentrations of synthetic hormone EE2, as these values were below the detection limit of the analytical method applied. Even though there is no national environmental legislation that limits amounts of hormones in surface water, these contaminations are significant, due to their already known toxicological potential. It was evident that along the river from its origin to the exit of the city there was the appearance and increase of the contamination of the waters by the hormone E2, thus it is clear that the urbanization around the rivers has become an environmental and health problem for providing the contamination of the aquatic environment.

Occurrence and environmental risk assessment of 22 pesticides in Brazilian freshwaters

Pesticide contamination in water resources is a global threat. Although usually found at low concentrations, pesticides raise considerable toxicological concerns, mainly when mixtures are considered. The occurrence of 22 pesticides (2,4 D, alachlor, aldicarb, aldrin, atrazine, carbendazim, carbofuran, chlordane, chlorpyrifos, DDT, diuron, glyphosate, lindane, mancozeb, methamidophos, metolachlor, molinate, profenofos, simazine, tebuconazole, terbufos, and trifluralin) was investigated, through consolidated database information, in surface freshwaters of Brazil. Moreover, scenarios of environmental risk assessment considering isolated compounds and mixtures were performed, as well as a meta-analytic approach for toxicity purposes. Pesticides in freshwater have been reported from 719 cities (12.9% of Brazilian cities), where 179 (3.2%) showed pesticide occurrence above the limit of detection or quantification. Considering cities with more than five quantified, 16 cities were prone to environmental risks considering individual risks. However, the number increased to 117 cities when the pesticide mixture was considered. The mixture risk was driven by atrazine, chlorpyrifos, and DDT. The national maximum acceptable concentrations (MAC) for nearly all pesticides are higher than the predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) for the species evaluated, except aldrin. Our results show the need to consider mixtures in the environmental risk assessment to avoid underestimation and review MAC to protect aquatic ecosystems. The results presented here may guide the revision of the national environmental legislation to ensure the protection of Brazilian aquatic ecosystems.

Strengthening Environmental Decision Making through Legislation: Insights from Cognitive Science and Behavioural Economics

AbstractThe environmental assessment literature has neglected the distorting effect of cognitive and unconscious motivational biases (CUMB) in environmental assessment processes. This is problematic because CUMB are present in most, if not all, decision-making situations and can significantly distort decision-making processes. This article assesses how debiasing techniques are, or should be, incorporated in (supra)national environmental assessment legislation. The Dutch case study undertaken for this article shows that EU and Dutch legislation do not sufficiently incorporate debiasing techniques to ensure sound environmental decision making. Furthermore, the extent to which Dutch legislation incorporates debiasing techniques was found to be decreasing. Based on these findings, the article presents ways to incorporate debiasing techniques in environmental assessment legislation more generally, and in EU and Dutch legislation in particular.

Russian Companies’ Motivations for Making Green Investments

The purpose of this study is to identify the most significant motivations for Russian companies to make green investments. This article presents a multiple regression model based on panel data, designed to assess the impact of various factors on green investments made by Russian companies. To create this model, the authors used annual data for 83 regions of the Russian Federation for the period from 2011 to 2020. According to calculations made in this paper, the growth of green investments in the economy is due to the inflow of foreign direct investment, the increase in the collection of fees for negative impact on the environment, the increase in the production of extractive products and the growth of CO2 emissions. At the same time, the total volume of investments is not affected by indicators assessing the environmental factor, but is affected by the inflow of foreign direct investments and the level of business concentration. The obtained results mean that the main motivators that encourage Russian companies to make green investments today are the opinion of foreign investors, global decisions to reduce greenhouse gases and the partial tightening of national environmental legislation. This indicates that the degree of a companies’ integration into the global economy is of great importance for its propensity to make green investments in Russia. Therefore, special approaches are needed from the state in order to create incentives for green modernization of the national economy. This study expands our understanding of the role that green investments can play in the economy and the motivation for companies to make them, thus contributing to the existing literature on this subject.

Lights at the end of the tunnel: The incidence and characteristics of recovery for Australian threatened animals

Recovery of threatened species is a widely recognised conservation goal. We assess the incidence and characteristics of recovery for threatened Australian animals from the establishment of Australia's national environmental legislation in 2000 to 2022. Formal de-listings have been few, and mostly not indicative of actual recovery. However, we assessed that 29 taxa (1 fish, 4 frogs, 1 reptile, 8 birds and 15 mammals), representing 6.5 % of the 446 species that we consider were justifiably listed as threatened, have recovered over this period such that they no longer meet the eligibility criteria for listing as threatened.Most of the recovered species are mammals whose previous decline was due to introduced predators. Their recovery has been enabled by sustained management actions (establishment of predator-free havens, translocations and predator control). The lack of recovery of invertebrates is possibly because these have received little conservation investment. The limited recovery of fish is due to limited capacity for abating the threats of introduced fish predators and of exploitation and degradation of aquatic systems. Species threatened by habitat loss and degradation, fire and climate change are under-represented in recoveries.De-listing of the taxa that we assess here to have recovered would provide a tangible recognition and indicator of conservation success and help maintain the integrity of the threatened species list. However, most of the recovered species would rapidly become eligible for re-listing should their conservation management be withdrawn. Although there is a prevalent trend for decline of Australia's threatened species, these recoveries merit recognition.

Fire in the bog: responses of peatland vegetation in the Australian Alps to fire

Context Peatlands in the Australian Alps are important ecologically and recognised in national environmental legislation. Increasing fire frequency over the past 40years has put the community at greater risk of degradation.Aims Using published studies of fire effects in peatlands and new data, we investigate general responses of peatlands to fire so that risk can be evaluated and appropriate management adopted.Methods We present four case studies that employ repeated measures of floristic composition or chronosequences to assess fire-related changes.Key results Cover of frequently-occurring species declined after fire but most had returned to pre-fire cover after 10years. Recovery of the obligate seeder shrub Dracophyllum continentis (B.L.Burtt) S.Venter and the dominant moss Sphagnum cristatum Hampe was much slower, but variable for the latter, apparently depending on fire intensity and post-fire moisture availability; both species favoured less frequently burnt peatlands with high soil moisture. Some herbs (including non-native species) benefitted from fire, briefly becoming abundant soon afterwards. Overall species richness and diversity were unaffected by fire.Conclusions Peatlands in the Australian Alps tend to be resilient to single fires with effects on species composition being short-lived. However, species cover (especially Sphagnum cristatum) requires perhaps 20years between fires for full recovery. Fire can cause localised community extinction and this is likely to be exacerbated by other pressures such as trampling and drought.Implications Fire will be difficult to manage in peatlands but resilience might be built by removing other pressures such as trampling by feral animals.

МІСТОБУДІВНЕ, ЕКОЛОГО-ГІГІЄНІЧНЕ ОБҐРУНТУВАННЯ НОРМУВАННЯ САНІТАРНО-ЗАХИСНИХ ЗОН ДЛЯ ОБ'ЄКТІВ ІНФРАСТРУКТУРИ – АВТОМОБІЛЬНИХ ЗАПРАВНИХ СТАНЦІЙ ЯК СКЛАДОВА ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ ДЕРЖАВНОГО УПРАВЛІННЯ

B a c k g r o u n d . In connection with the shortage of land resources in the largest cities and megalopolises, the issue of the location of existing automobile refueling stations (ARS) and the design of prospective residential buildings close to them, as well as the location of projected ARS in already established suburban areas, are becoming increasingly important. This is happening against the background of rapid motorization of modern society. This also necessitates the formation of new approaches to solving modern problems in the planning and development of the territories of settlements, namely state regulation on the standardization of sanitary protection zones (SPZ) for modern ARS. The purpose and task of the research is to carry out the ecological and hygienic substantiation of the regulation of SPZ for infrastructure objects – modern ARS, taking into account their differentiation in terms of capacity and degree of impact on the environment and the level of fire safety, as a component supply of public administration, to regulate the urban planning situation and make administrative and management decisions. The subject of the study is the achievement of safe conditions for the location of ARS on the territory of populated areas by means of ecological and hygienic standardization of the SPZ for them. The object of the study is the ecological, hygienic and fire safety of ARS for the population of residential and public buildings adjacent to the territory of the ARS as a component supply of public administration. M e t h o d s . In the research process, abstract-logical, theoretical, modeling, instrumental and statistical and method of legal regulation – standardization of SPZ of infrastructure objects – modern ARS. R e s u l t s . The article presents the results of comprehensive studies on the justification of the standardization of new SPZ for modern ARS according to urban planning, ecological and hygienic criteria and the level of fire safety as a component supply of public administration. The establishment of SPZ for ARS is substantiated, taking into account their differentiation in terms of capacity, the state of implementation of environmentally friendly fuel handling technologies and the level of fire safety, which is important for making administrative and management decisions regarding the development of the territories of settlements adjacent to them. The introduction of environmentally friendly equipment and modern technologies, the implementation of environmental protection measures during fuel storage at ARS are effective measures, both at the local self-government level and at the state level, which will slow down climate change on Earth. According to the research results, the classification of ARS according to the ecological and hygienic characteristics of gross emissions from sources of atmospheric air pollution is proposed: small, medium and large ARS, which is important from the point of view of urban planning. С o n c l u s i o n s . On the basis of a comprehensive approach, the adequacy of the standard SPZ of 50 m for small and mediumcapacity ARS has been proven, and the creation of a new safe for the health and life of the population, from the point of view of urban planning, the size of the SPZ of 100 m for large-capacity ARS has been substantiated. It is proposed to approve the new standard of 100 m for high-capacity ARS at the state level by making changes to the existing regulatory framework of urban planning and sanitary legislation. It is substantiated as a component supply of public administration, the introduction of the range of changes in the sizes of SPZ for modern fire- and explosive-hazardous facilities in the legislation and practice of Ukrainian entrepreneurship on the basis of urban planning, ecological and hygienic justification and the level of fire safety. The vector of further research should be aimed at the further implementation into the national urban planning, environmental and sanitary legislation of the requirements of the EU Directives, foreign experience in strengthening fuel quality control, ARS emission control and the introduction of advanced technologies and environmental protection measures at ARS, the use of modern transport to reduce negative impact on the environment and adjacent residential and public buildings, which will serve the formation of modern, environmentally conscious, independent domestic entrepreneurship.

EU Candidate Membership Status of Ukraine: Prospects for the Development of Environmental Legislation

The purpose of the article is to study the process of harmonization of the environmental legislation of Ukraine with EU acquis in connection with the acquisition of the EU candidate membership status. An analysis of the legal framework for the formation of EU environmental policy has been carried out. The main principles of the EU in the field of environmental protection are defined. The article examines the process of formation and the current state of compliance of the national environmental legislation with EU environmental acquis. The main principles of the EU in the field of environmental protection are defined. The current state of alignment of the domestic legal regulation in the sphere of environmental protection with the environmental law of the EU is analyzed. Priority areas where the adaptation of environmental legislation with the EU acquis are highlightened. It is substantiated that the adaptation of the EU environmental acquis has to be accompanied by administrative, financial and organizational measures, which should be implemented to ensure its implementation.

Assessing the impact of referred actions on protected matters under Australia's national environmental legislation

AbstractAustralia's national environmental legislation, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) has been criticized for failing to mitigate the national extinction crisis. Under the EPBC Act, projects anticipated to have a significant impact on protected matters must be referred to the Australian Government for assessment. Actions deemed unlikely to have a significant impact are granted permission to proceed, while actions expected to have a significant impact must undergo further assessment. We spatially analyzed potential habitat loss deemed either significant or non‐significant in Queensland and New South Wales for threatened species, migratory species, and threatened ecological communities between 2000 and 2015. Impact scores were developed to quantify and compare the value of woody vegetation cleared under each referral determination. We found no statistically significant difference between median impact scores for vegetation removed under significant and non‐significant determinations. Over half (63%) of all scored losses occurred under actions deemed non‐significant, with certain species disproportionately impacted. The tiger quoll (Dasyurus maculatus maculatus) and grey‐headed flying‐fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) lost 82% and 72% of their total referred potential habitat under non‐significant actions, respectively. Our results indicate that the application of the EPBC Act is failing to adequately conserve the protected matters of this investigation.

The concept structure and main characteristics of environmental law and order

In this study, the authors analyze and consider the concept, its legal and methodological aspects, the structure and internal content of environmental law and order, which is one of the main elements enshrined in the basic law of the country. In the epoch of the Anthropocene, environmental legislation and management in the sphere of interaction between society and nature are quite naturally changing. The authors believe that in the new realities of the changing dynamics of environmental management, the role of studying the legal content and structure of environmental law and order is especially relevant. The problems of national environmental legislation, its relevance, timeliness and the necessary coverage of regulatory norms, relevant public relations raises some questions. Such as, and how effective is the social, legal provision of environmental safety in the new realities of environmental threats. For example, environmental man-made disasters, natural disasters caused by global warming, the greenhouse effect, a sharp deterioration in the quantitative and qualitative state of atmospheric air, the ongoing pollution of the oceans and water resources in general, the shortage of drinking water and, significantly, global depletion and the real threat of pollution of the earth. In this regard, we can conclude that there is a "paradigm shift" both in national environmental legislation and in the theoretical aspects of environmental law, the state-legal mechanism of management, and also recognizes the need for a new role in environmental legislation and in the theoretical aspects of environmental law, allowing it to quickly and effectively meet the new dynamics of the changing context of environmental law. There is an urgent need at the present stage of development to increase the growing level of ecological legal awareness of the individual as an element of ecological law and order. Keywords: environmental law, environmental awareness, environmental law and order, environmental protection, environmental education.

Europeanization of Environmental Law of the European Union Member States

Topicality. The topicality of the issue presented in the article is due to the insufficiency of research on the Environmental Law Europeanization in domestic legal science. The purpose of the article. The purpose of the article is to study the essence of the concept of “law Europeanization” and the peculiarities of its implementation in the field of Environmental Law of EU member states and candidate states. Research methods. The Europeanization concept arose and developed as a result of changes occurred within the theory of integration itself. The article deals with the influence of the process of deepening of the integration and expansion of the European Union on the obligations of the member states regarding the protection of the environment and climate.It is observed that the construction and functioning of the EU legal order is a decisive factor of integration, which is viewed as a project of building a single market, complemented by the range of policies implementation, in particular in the field of environmental and climate protection. Results. The concept of Environmental Law Europeanization was analyzed, and the way how the legal systems of the EU member states contribute to the development of the European Union Environmental Law, which is supranational by its legal nature, was examined.It is emphasized that the Europeanization of law cannot be addressed as a homogeneous process, nor as a process that leads to the same result in each of the member states.Despite the obvious dominance of international law and globalization as factors determining the national law reform, it can be argued that the peculiarities of legal regulation of relations in the field of environmental and climate protection are caused by the consequences of “soft” or indirect Europeanization. In many cases, the rules of the EU legal order, which are incompatible with national rules, create pressure on national governments, prompting them to adapt national environmental legislation to European environmental legal standards. Attention is drawn to the fact that within the framework of the process of European integration, the process of de-Europeanization can occur to a certain extent and for various reasons. The significance of the results. The conclusions obtained as a result of the research will contribute to the awareness of the phenomenon of Europeanization of the EU member states and candidate states national law, in particular such a component as Environmental Law, its directions and forms, and may be useful in the process of domestic environmental legislation to the European Union environmental legislation adaptation.

"ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION IN SOLVING ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS"

"On the basis of existing standards in the field of environmental protection, the member States of the European Union are obliged to bring national legislation into line with these standards and ensure that practices comply with the goals set out in the Union’s regulations. The analysis of the formation and development of environmental policy, competence and law of the European Union gives grounds to speak about the accumulated positive experience in this area. The environmental standards and programs developed in the European Union are of interest not only for integration associations of other regions, but also for neighboring states, including near and far abroad, which are extremely interested in the development and improvement of their national environmental legislation. Relations resulting from the development of a program of action by the member States of the European Union, decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, competence and regulations of the institutions of the European Union in the field of environmental protection. The institute of responsibility in European environmental law has been analyzed in sufficient detail in the context of various aspects. The complex of political and legal aspects related to the formation and development of the policy, competence and law of the European Union in the field of environmental protection is also considered. The article consistently sets and solves the following tasks: periodization of the main stages of the formation and development of the policy and competence of the European Union in the field of environmental protection; assessment of the contribution of the member States (the so-called «greens») to the formation of the ecological legal order of the European Union; analysis of the role of the Court of Justice of the European Communities in the formation and development of the competence of the European Union in the field of environmental protection. Keywords: environmental protection, European law, environmental policy, human rights, European Union."