Green Law-Making: A Primer on the European Community's Environmental Legislative Process

The birth of the European Common Market marks a new era of multistate environmental regulation that will radically affect commercial activity. This Article examines the European Community's (EC) background, institutions, and legislative process to elucidate how this environmental regime is developing. Following a brief introduction, Part II sets forth the EC's background, presenting its history and the general framework in which its law applies. Part III describes the EC's major institutions.

Part IV discusses forms of EC legislation, with an emphasis on the use of directives. Part V considers legislative processes by which the EC enacts laws, including the new cooperative procedure. Part VI discusses the historic and future bases for EC environmental law. Finally, Part VII considers outside parties' roles in the legislative process and the ways in which private parties can present their views and influence legislative outcomes.