Greening the EU and the Rule of Law: Opportunities and Limits of the EU’s Legal Powers

This book examines the European Green Deal in relation to the rule of law, providing insights into the potential and limitations of the EU’s legal powers in achieving the Green Deal’s objectives. It explores key themes including constitutional questions, market steering, enforcement, liability and access to justice, and the EU’s global influence.

Expert authors investigate instruments adopted under the Green Deal, such as the Nature Restoration Law, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, and the Environmental Crime Directive. They highlight the recalibration of internal market law and the emergence of a green monetary policy, initiating and advancing academic and legal debate on implementing the Green Deal. Contributors analyse the Green Deal’s legal foundations through core principles, covering a broad scope of topics spanning constitutional law, new regulatory approaches, enforcement, liability, and access to justice. The book concludes that, given the need for transformative action, the concept of ‘learning by doing’ offers a valuable lens for researching and assessing the output of the Green Deal in light of rule of law values.