Transformation of Legal Categories in EU Environmental Law

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Johannes Saurer
• Subject Area: Public Law
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 519479220

The project identifies and addresses a multi-dimensional process of transformation of legal instruments in EU environmental law. It starts from the observation of three dimensions of transformation that shall be further assessed: First, fundamental legal acts of EU environmental law are increasingly enacted not as EU directives, but as EU regulations. Second, EU environmental law establishes “iterative planning procedures” to reach mid-term or long-term environmental goals. In such procedures, plans of EU member states are object to intense scrutiny and recommendations of the EU Commission. Third, in the field of tertiary legislation, delegated regulations of the EU Commission become ever more important. The project will analyze and systemize the three dimensions of transformation in case studies. It will examine rationales and driving forces. It will particularly examine whether the transformation of legal instruments is a reaction of EU environmental law to various phenomena of crises that shape the present – phenomena of ecological crisis such as loss of biodiversity and the perils of climate change and phenomena of institutional crisis in the EU including Brexit and dysfunctionalities in collective decision-making processes. It will also explore, whether there are similar phenomena of transformation in other areas of EU law. The project will thoroughly assess the compatibility of the identified transformation of the legal instruments with EU primary law. Main problems to be addressed include the compatibility of the shift from EU directives to EU regulations with the principles of proportionality and subsidiarity, the challenge of iterative planning procedures to judicial review, accountability and democratic legitimacy and the lawfulness of the EU Commission’s practice of delegated regulations in light of Article 290 TFEU. Whenever legally required or functionally adequate, the project will develop policy recommendations to improve the instruments of EU environmental law. In terms of method, the project will have a focus on normative structures, but will also draw on interdisciplinary insights. It will establish a forum for national and international discourse on legal instruments in EU environmental law. To realize that goal, the project will organize theme-specific workshops and publish research results in international journals or open access format. The project will be organized in the structure of three sub-projects that correspond to the three dimensions of transformation identified above. The project will span a period of 36 months.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants