Environmental Justice and European Union Law

Abstract

The contribution examines to what extent European Union environmental law has directly or indirectly contributed to environmental injustice in the EU Member States. It examines one by one the different environmental legislative acts which the EU has adopted in order to find out whether minorities have been treated or were allowed to be treated differently from the rest of the population. It concludes that the existing environmental injustice within the EU is not due to the environmental legislation that was adopted by the EU, but rather due to its application in practice. The contribution indicates ways to improve the present situation, but concludes that changes for the better are likely to take time.

Keywords

• eu environmental legislation
• ethnic minorities
• environmental discrimination
• citizen rights
• better application of laws
• roma people