Acid rain
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Acid rain in Greece, causes big damages in archeological monuments.
This page covers environmental issues in Greece.
| | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (June 2014) |
Acid rain in Greece, causes big damages in archeological monuments.
Greece is a signatory member of the Kyoto Protocol but there has been much sharp criticism from the failure to meet their intended targets for cutting carbon emissions. Many have claimed that policies have not been tough enough and the protocol has not been implemented in full owing to large business interests, though the government denies this. The government has also attracted sharp criticism about its waste management plans, as has the Mayor of Athens, though there are plans for new plants to be built to deal with the city's waste surplus. However, spatial planning that is being promoted for the protection of resources from exhaustion, destruction and pollution is part of a wider government plan addressing environmental issues. Many environmental issues in Greece are being solved with the help of the government.
The Athens Metro has also relieved some pressure in terms of car pollution in Athens and the planned Thessaloniki Metro will help the situation there too. The municipality of Athens has also announced a plan to deal with pollution in the city, though the exact details are as yet unknown.
The European Union has sued the Greek national government several times due to its failure to uphold EU environmental standards. In 2002, the European Commission sued Greece for failing to take adequate steps to protect sea turtles on the island of Zakinthos. [3] The ECJ ruled in favor of the Commission, stating that Greece "failed to fulfil its obligations under EC Treaty and Article 12(1)(b) and (d) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora." [3] In the Court's words, Greece did not do enough to protect the sea turtle's breeding grounds. [3]
In 2006, the Commission again sued Greece for failing to uphold Directive 92/43/EEC, claiming that the Greek government failed to protect the breeding grounds of vipers (Vipera Schweizeri) on the island of Milos. [4] The ECJ sided with the Commission. [4]
In 2020, the Commission sued Greece for a third time, arguing that Greece failed to establish the 239 Sites of Community Importance identified in Commission Decision 2006/613/EC. [5] Sites of Community Importance are areas designated by the European Union as being critical to maintaining biogeographical richness. [6] The ECJ concurred, claiming that "the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 4(4) and 6(1) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, as amended by Council Directive 2006/105/EC of 20 November 2006." [5]
The Greek coastal development law (2024) may trigger another case involving Greece and the European Commission.
The Protocol on Integrated Coastal Zone Management in the Mediterranean, which requires that signatories establish a minimum 100 meter setback zone, was ratified by the European Union in 2009. [7] The Greek national government has not ratified the convention, but, as an EU member state, its current policies are in violation of the agreement. [8]
Terizakis, Georgios (2006). Zivilgesellschaft in Griechenland : eine Untersuchung am Beispiel der Umweltgruppen. Baden-Baden: Nomos. ISBN 978-3-8329-2217-7.
A directive is a legal act of the European Union that requires member states to achieve particular goals without dictating how the member states achieve those goals. A directive's goals have to be made the goals of one or more new or changed national laws by the member states before this legislation applies to individuals residing in the member states. Directives normally leave member states with a certain amount of leeway as to the exact rules to be adopted. Directives can be adopted by means of a variety of legislative procedures depending on their subject matter.
European Union citizenship is afforded to all nationals of member states of the European Union (EU). It was formally created with the adoption of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, at the same time as the creation of the EU. EU citizenship is additional to, as it does not replace, national citizenship. It affords EU citizens with rights, freedoms and legal protections available under EU law.
The European emission standards are vehicle emission standards for pollution from the use of new land surface vehicles sold in the European Union and European Economic Area member states and the United Kingdom, and ships in EU waters. The standards are defined in a series of European Union directives staging the progressive introduction of increasingly stringent standards.
Government procurement or public procurement is undertaken by the public authorities of the European Union (EU) and its member states in order to award contracts for public works and for the purchase of goods and services in accordance with principles derived from the Treaties of the European Union. Such procurement represents 13.6% of EU GDP as of March 2023, and has been the subject of increasing European regulation since the 1970s because of its importance to the European single market.
Water supply and sanitation (WSS) in the European Union (EU) is the responsibility of each member state, but in the 21st century union-wide policies have come into effect. Water resources are limited and supply and sanitation systems are under pressure from urbanisation and climate change. Indeed, the stakes are high as the European Environmental Agency found that one European out of ten already suffers a situation of water scarcity and the IEA measured the energy consumption of the water sector to be equivalent to 3,5% of the electricity consumption of the EU.
The energy policy of the European Union focuses on energy security, sustainability, and integrating the energy markets of member states. An increasingly important part of it is climate policy. A key energy policy adopted in 2009 is the 20/20/20 objectives, binding for all EU Member States. The target involved increasing the share of renewable energy in its final energy use to 20%, reduce greenhouse gases by 20% and increase energy efficiency by 20%. After this target was met, new targets for 2030 were set at a 55% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 as part of the European Green Deal. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU's energy policy turned more towards energy security in their REPowerEU policy package, which boosts both renewable deployment and fossil fuel infrastructure for alternative suppliers.
The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean, originally the Convention for Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution, and often simply referred to as the Barcelona Convention, is a regional convention adopted in 1976 to prevent and abate pollution from ships, aircraft and land based sources in the Mediterranean Sea. This includes but is not limited to dumping, run-off and discharges. Signers agreed to cooperate and assist in dealing with pollution emergencies, monitoring and scientific research. The convention was adopted on 16 February 1976 and amended on 10 June 1995.
Van Duyn v Home Office (1974) C-41/74 was a case of the European Court of Justice concerning the free movement of workers between member states.
Metock v Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (2008) C-127/08 is a European Union law case, significant in Ireland and Denmark, on the Citizens Rights Directive and family unification rules for migrant citizens. Citizenship of the European Union was established by Article 20 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and the Citizenship Directive 2004/38 elaborates the right of Union citizens and their family members to move and reside freely in the territory of a member state, consolidating previous Directives dealing with the right to move and reside within the European Community (EC).
The Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES), is a web-based veterinarian certification tool used by the European Union for controlling the import and export of live animals and animal products within and without its borders. Its network falls under the responsibility of the European Commission. TRACES constitutes a key element of how the European Union facilitates trade and improves health protection for the consumer, as laid down in the First Pillar principle. Other countries use computer networks to provide veterinary certification, but TRACES is the only supranational network working at a continental scale of 28 countries and almost 500 million people.
The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 1991 European Union directive concerning urban waste water "collection, treatment and discharge of urban waste water and the treatment and discharge of waste water from certain industrial sectors". It aims "to protect the environment from adverse effects of waste water discharges from cities and "certain industrial sectors". Council Directive 91/271/EEC on Urban Wastewater Treatment was adopted on 21 May 1991, amended by the Commission Directive 98/15/EC.
The Environmental Liability Directive2004/35/EC is a European Union law Directive on enforcement of claims against occupational activities which damage the environment. Its objective is to create "a more uniform regime for the prevention and remediation of environmental damage" across the EU.
The Single European Railway Directive 2012 is an EU Directive that regulates railway networks in European Union law. This recast the "First Railway Directive" or "Package" from 1991, and allows open access operations on railway lines by companies other than those that own the rail infrastructure. The legislation was extended by further directives to include cross border transit of freight.
The European Union (EU) Environmental Policy was initiated in 1973 with the "Environmental Action Programme" at which point the Environmental Unit was formed. The policy has thereafter evolved "to cover a vast landscape of different topics enacted over many decades" (Reuters) and in 2015 the Institute for European Environmental Policy estimated that "the body of EU environmental law" amounted to 500+ directives, regulations and decisions.
"Over the past decades the European Union has put in place a broad range of environmental legislation. As a result, air, water and soil pollution has significantly been reduced. Chemicals legislation has been modernised and the use of many toxic or hazardous substances has been restricted. Today, EU citizens enjoy some of the best water quality in the world"
Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is a systematic decision support process aiming to ensure that environmental and possibly other sustainability aspects are considered effectively in policy, plan, and program making. In this context, following Fischer (2007) SEA may be seen as:
European company law is the part of European Union law which concerns the formation, operation and insolvency of companies in the European Union. The EU creates minimum standards for companies throughout the EU, and has its own corporate forms. All member states continue to operate separate companies acts, which are amended from time to time to comply with EU Directives and Regulations. There is, however, also the option of businesses to incorporate as a Societas Europaea (SE), which allows a company to operate across all member states.
On February 29, 2024 the Greek Parliament passed a bill that relaxed coastal protection regulations. The bill, which was supported by the majority New Democracy party, passed with 158 votes in favor and 142 against. All eight opposition parties voted against the legislation.
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