The Environmental Liability Directive
The Environmental Liability Directive
(ELD) was adopted in Europe in 2004 and will be transposed and
implemented by the end of April 2007. The purpose of the Directive is to
make companies that cause environmental damage financially responsible
for remediating and preventing this damage, in accordance with the
Polluter Pays Principle. It will also serve to harmonise the different
liability regimes which exist in the EU.
In this case, environmental damage means:
- Damage to protected species and natural habitats which has
adverse effects on their reaching or maintaining a favourable
conservation status of such habitats or species.
- Water damage which significantly adversely affects the
ecological, chemical and/or quantitative status and/or ecological
potential, as defined in the Water Framework Directive.
- Land contamination, through either substances or organisms, that creates a significant risk of human health.
- ‘Damage’ is defined as “a measurable adverse change in a natural
resource or measurable impairment of a natural resource service which
may occur directly or indirectly”.
- Related Directives
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