L’evoluzione della politica ambientale dell’Unione: effetto Bruxelles, nuovi obiettivi e vecchi limiti

The climate catastrophe that our planet is approaching is forcing everyone to make choices that can no longer be postponed. Signs of change are beginning to emerge with respect to traditional national policies, but there is still widespread skepticism among the public as to the existence of a common will to protect the environment effectively, not least because of the lack of uniformity of views among the Member States on the measures to be adopted and the deadline for complying with their obligations. In this problematic context, it is necessary to deal with the Union’s environmental legislation, which is developed along several lines and covers many aspects. In particular, this paper examines the EU legal framework from the following points of view: 1) the evolution of the Union’s objectives, both internally and in its external relations; 2) the state of implementation of Union legislation and incentives for better regulation; 3) the effectiveness of environmental protection instruments. The perspective of investigation adopted does not claim to reconstruct in an exhaustive manner the above-mentioned profiles of the relationship between the European Union and the environment, which are very broad, rather complex and constantly changing. Rather, the aim is to make a few observations in order to highlight the exponential growth of the EU’s role in the environmental sphere as a result of its influence on national legislation and its credibility on the international stage, without, however, overlooking some of the critical issues that remain in this area in the identification of the new and ambitious objectives set by the Green Deal.