European Union: Environmental Law

The Hague District Court has ruled that the Netherlands violated fundamental rights by failing to establish absolute greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in its environmental policy. This groundbreaking decision, stemming from a claim by Greenpeace Netherlands and Bonaire residents, marks the first application of the European Court of Human Rights' KlimaSeniorinnen framework by a Dutch court, requiring states to adopt concrete measures mitigating climate change effects.

The Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy has published for public consultation a new draft Joint Ministerial Decision approving the revised Special Spatial Planning Framework for Renewable Energy Sources and its accompanying Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment (the New RES Framework).

This comprehensive overview examines the most significant ESG-related legal and policy developments across Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia during the first half of 2026, revealing a strategic shift from rapid regulatory expansion toward pragmatic implementation and competitiveness. The analysis explores how sustainability obligations, renewable energy reforms, and emissions management frameworks are evolving across both EU and non-EU jurisdictions in the region.

Cannes Rules! brings together leading voices in advertising law and self-regulation for an unprecedented full-day program exploring the intersection of creativity, responsibility, and compliance.

The second half of 2025 was marked by the Cour de cassation’s recognition of a general duty of vigilance in environmental matters.

German tax accounting rules for building-related expenditures are undergoing significant change, particularly affecting energy-efficient refurbishments. Recent guidance from the Institute of Public Auditors and the Federal Ministry of Finance has expanded the scope of capitalizable costs, creating potential divergences between commercial and tax treatment that require careful navigation by tax advisors.

The European Union's Critical Raw Materials Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1252, "CRMA") represents one of the most significant regulatory developments affecting the mining sector in decades.

Germany is poised to fundamentally transform its corporate liability regime by quadrupling maximum fines and, for the first time, codifying statutory sentencing criteria that expressly recognize internal investigations and compliance measures as mandatory mitigating factors. The reforms, embedded within an EU environmental directive implementation, will apply across all corporate offenses and establish clear legal requirements for how companies must respond to suspected misconduct.

Deutsche Umwelthilfe has launched multiple legal challenges against German state authorities over alleged failures to control trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) contamination in water systems.