ENLIA

The aim of the Environmental Liability Directive 2004/35/EC (ELD) is the reduction and prevention of environmental damage, punishing the damage caused by different professional activities and forcing the remediation.
A major problem with the ELD is that it is not binding, what means under-use in practice. Many operators are indeed unaware of the potential liabilities arising from environmental damage.

The transposition of the ELD to the policy frame of the different European countries has been carried out unevenly. The number of different models and levels of development is large and varies significantly. In the candidate countries, the transposition is in progress.

In the context described, ENLIA intends to be an accelerator for environmental policies all over Europe to further develop environmental liability and specially to have it applied in practical terms.
This means the professional operators taking preventive action in the case of a threat of environmental damage, notifying the competent authority of imminent threats or actual damage and remediating the damage caused, deploying the “polluter pays” principle. It means also the competent authorities improving their capacity to deploy these measures.

The issue addressed is complex, since environmental liability impacts professional operators and implies the environmental authorities to improve their capacities: different groups might be reactive. However, the impact on the preservation of nature and biodiversity and the reduction of pollution would be high.

Contrary to previous projects on environmental matters, ENLIA addresses specifically environmental liability.

It brings together 6 governments with competences on environment and different degrees of experience in environmental responsibility from the EU and the candidate countries, with the aim of exchanging experiences in the field and mutually learning. The University of Le Havre-Normandy (ULH-N) accompanies them in the role of advisory partner.