Directive

About: Directive is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5695 publications have been published within this topic receiving 56084 citations.

The EU floods directive in Sweden: opportunities for integrated and participatory flood risk planning

Abstract: This study analyses the implementation of the EU Floods Directive in Sweden. The question here centres on the possibilities promoted by the directive for sustainable flood risk management, with an emphasis on integrated and participatory management forms. Key persons are interviewed, using a set of criteria for sustainable river basin management as a theoretical framework. The study shows that work in this area is guided by a wide array of values, and that the involved experts provide a broad knowledge basis for this work. The need for better coordination between authorities, pieces of legislation and policy fields however remains critical while the merits of participatory planning approaches are not yet sufficiently utilised. One of the primary tasks here is to develop a shared understanding of the formal context and roles of the process while also developing forms for effective collaboration both within the new administration and between the administration and other key actors, most importantly the municipalities. The case of Sweden can provide useful insights into this process for other member states.

Strategic Environmental Assessment in International and European Law: A Practitioner's Guide

Abstract: Foreword * Introduction: SEA and the Law * Part I: International Law * An Overview of International Law * International Environmental Law * The Espoo and Aarhus Conventions * The SEA Protocol * SEA and the Conservation Conventions * Part II: European Law * An Overview of European Law * European Environmental Law * The EIA and other Horizontal Directives * The SEA Directive * Relationship between the SEA, EIA and other Related Directives * Comparisons and Conclusions * Index

Block, amend, delay: tobacco industry efforts to influence the European Union’s Tobacco Products Directive (2001/37/EC)

Abstract: In 1996, discussion began in Brussels on the need for further tobacco control measures. Following extensive consultation, in November 1999 the European Commission proposed a new Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). The proposal would strengthen existing European legislation on cigarette yields and product labelling by lowering limits for tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide yields and by enlarging warning labels. It also sought to introduce stringent ingredients disclosure provisions and a ban on misleading descriptors such as “light” and “mild”, and aimed to prohibit the export of noncompliant products outside the European Union (EU). The tobacco industry mounted an intense lobbying campaign in response and made at least five legal challenges against the directive. Despite such efforts the directive was enacted successfully in 2001. This study seeks to identify and analyse tobacco sector responses to the directive and discuss the implications for future legislation within the EU and beyond. Such an analysis is particularly timely given the current review of the directive and emerging debates around plain packaging.

Study on Council Directive 2011/64/EU on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco

Abstract: The purpose of this Study is to contribute to the Impact Assessment of a possible revision of Council Directive 2011/64/EU on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco. The Study includes a baseline assessment of a series of issues emerged from the previous evaluation of the Directive and analyses how these problems may evolve if no EU action is taken. Secondly, the Study formulates a set of possible policy options to address these problems, assesses their likely impacts (market functioning and development, regulatory costs, tax revenues, tobacco control policies, illicit trade etc.), and compares the outcome with the baseline situation.

Are We on the Right Track? Collective Self-Consumption and Energy Communities in the European Union

Abstract: To accelerate the energy transition, the EU “Clean Energy for all Europeans” package aims to strengthen the involvement of end consumers in the energy market. To this end, together with so-called “active consumers” and provisions for individual and collective renewable energy self-consumption, two types of energy communities were introduced. The EU framework, however, leaves many details of the transposition process to the national level. The corresponding directives were supposed to be transposed by the end of December 2020 (recast Electricity Market Directive, defining active consumers and citizen energy communities) and by the end of June 2021 (Renewable Energy Directive, defining renewables self-consumption and renewable energy communities). In this paper, we critically discuss major developments of the transposition, including questions of the general distinction of the different concepts, governance and ownership, physical expansion, administrative barriers and the overall integration of energy communities into the energy system. The analysis builds on country case studies as well as on previous work by the authors on the status of the transposition process throughout the EU. The paper shows that the national approaches differ greatly and are at very different stages. While basic provisions are in place in most Member States to meet the fundamental EU requirements, the overall integration into the energy system and market is only partly addressed. This concerns, for instance, the analysis of system impacts of energy communities and measures that would allow and support energy system-friendly behaviour. In addition, several practical hurdles need to be overcome. These often relate to administrative requirements such as complex registration and licensing procedures, the need for the involvement of several institutions, or difficult procedures for access to relevant data. The paper concludes that discussed barriers will need to be carefully addressed if the high expectations for the role of energy communities are to be met.