Policy findings and country reports

The European Commission published on 5 April 2019 the second Environment Implementation Review (EIR), an overview of how EU environmental policies and laws are applied on the ground.

The 2nd EIR package consist of:

• A Communication with policy findings and an annex with the priority actions for the EU Member States, clustered by theme
• A Policy background document introducing all themes covered by the EIR
• 28 country reports. You can find the country reports and factsheets in English and in the official languages of the EU Members States in the following map:

Background

The first European Implementation Review package was adopted on the 3rd February 2017and it included:

• 28 country reports which map national strengths, opportunities and weaknesses.
• A Communication identifying common challenges across countries and how to combine efforts to deliver better results.
• An annex to the communication that summarises suggested actions for improvement for all EU Member States.

Full implementation of EU environmental legislation could save the EU economy around €55 billion every year in health costs and direct costs to the environment. This is the result of a new study on the costs of not implementing EU environmental law. Although the methodology is new, the study results in a similar figure as a 2011 study, which resulted in an estimate of €50 bn/year. While this is not surprising as the progress in implementation of EU law comes against new targets and the environmental pressures are not easy to overcome, this confirms the EIR overall finding that more, steady efforts are needed. 

The implementation gap cost estimate in the study is connected with much uncertainty. For each of the main environmental law sectors, the study estimates a cost range and a central value. The totals form a range between 30 and 80 bn, with 55bn being the central value. Tentatively, one could say that the highest costs are on air quality, then nature, followed by water, waste and industrial emissions.

Study: the costs of not implementing EU environmental law