Book Review: The Environmental Policy of the European Communities
| Author | Hanna G. Sevenster |
| Published date | 01 September 1996 |
| Date | 01 September 1996 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1023263X9600300307 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
IBook Reviews
S.P. Johnson and G. Corcelle (eds), The Environmental policy
of
the Euro-
pean
Communities, International Environmental Law &Policy Series, Klu-
wer Law International, 1995, Second Edition, 560 pages, hardback, Dfl.
245, US$ 155, £90.
This book consists of three parts: an introductory part, comprising a brief description
of the Environmental Action Programmes of the European Community (Chapters 1 and
2); 'Part One' describing the 'Basic sectors of Community Environment Policy' (Chap-
ters 3-8, Water, Air, Waste, Chemicals, Noise, Flora and Fauna); and 'Part Two' on
'Specific Aspects of Community Environment Policy' (Chapters 9-17).
This second edition of the book is more extensive than the first edition (1989); the basic
set-up of the book has not been changed however. The book is largely of a descriptive
nature. Community legislation, draft legislation and other (semi-)official documents are
described in quite some detail. This makes the book a very useful collection of informa-
tion for the practitioner (lawyer or non-lawyer), who wants to get a quick overview of
existing Community Policy and Law in a particular field of interest. This user should
be warned, however, that the information may not be entirely up-to-date and that expla-
natory case law etc. is missing (cf. below).
Because of its descriptive nature and focus on legislation, the book is not of interest
from a (legal) academic point of view. The discussion of the 'Legal framework' of
Community Environment Policy is limited to a brief description of the Treaty Articles
100A and 130R-T (before and after 'Maastricht'). Case law of the EC Court of Justice
is not even mentioned. Academic discussions on particular subjects are sometimes
touched upon, but never treated substantively. The book does not contain so much as
references to articles, books or other sources
of
information. For the legal aspects of
Community Environmental Policy, one is therefore referred to other books such as L.
Kramer's E. C. Treaty and Environmental Law
lor
J.H. Jans' European Environmental
Law. 2Having indicated the usefulness of the book as a source of information, my
comments below will focus on the set-up of the book, while taking the descriptive
purpose of the book into account.
Given the emphasis by the authors on describing legislation and policy documents, I
have wondered whether comments of any other kind should be included at all. In the
Introduction, the authors have included a paragraph entitled'An undeniable success' as
well as another 16-line paragraph 'The assessment: an undeniable success, despite
certain weaknesses'. Personally, I believe that these comments could well be missed in
the present set-up of the book, especially since it does not contain any critical comments
to balance this positive 'assessment'. The paragraphs concerned are too short to be
1. (Sweet &Maxwell, 1995.)
2. (Kluwer Law International, European Monographs nr. 2, 1995)
320 MJ 3 (1996)
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