The Environmental Liability Directive

The Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) is a directive that follows the polluter pays principle. This means that an operator whose activity has caused environmental damage or the imminent threat of such damage is held financially liable. The directive aims to induce operators to adopt measures and develop practices to minimise the risks of environmental damage so that their exposure to financial liabilities is reduced.

Environmental Damage

Environmental damage can be defined as a measurable adverse change in a natural resource or a measurable impairment or a natural resource. This may include damage to a protected species or natural habitat, water damage, or damage to land, which may cause contamination that may risk human health.

Protected Species

Protected species can be defined as the species and their habitats listed in the annex of the directive.

Conservation Status

Conservation status can be defined as the sum of influences acting on a natural habitat and its typical species that may effect its long-term natural distribution, structure and functions as well as the long-term survival of its typical species within.

Waters

Waters are defined as all waters covered by the directive.

Preventative Measures

Preventative measures can be defined as any measures taken in response to an event, act or omission that has created an imminent threat of environmental damage , with a view to preventing or minimising that damage.

Remedial Measures

Remedial measures can be defined as any action, or combination of actions to restore, rehabilitate or replace damaged natural resources.

Baseline Condition

Baseline conditions can be defined as the condition at the time of damage of the natural resources and services that would have existed had the environmental damage not occurred, estimating on the basis of the best information available.

Competent Authority

The competent authority or authorities are defined as authorities which the Member States designate as responsible for performing the duties arising from the ELD.

Critiques of the ELD

When looking at the opinion of organizations such as the RSPB and other conservation groups , there seems to be a lot of skepticism as to whether existing conservation and environmental laws will be strengthened or possibly even weakened by the EDL's implementation.

Some areas of particular importance are:

• Member States have the discretion as to whether or not to implement a number of the provisions. The way one of these discretions is exercised could effect the effectiveness of the ELD
• The overlapping of EU and national legislation could result in intentional or inadvertent weakness of existing laws
• There are many complex definitions within the ELD that need clarification but also provide an opportunity to look for practical solutions to strengthen existing conservation laws

In a nutshell it is the belief of many conservation organizations that the government should work to transpose the legislation to ensure that conservation objectives are enhanced rather that compromised.