3 ECTS credits
90 u studietijd
Aanbieding 1 met studiegidsnummer 6016812FNR voor alle studenten in het 1e semester met een gespecialiseerd master niveau.
The planetary boundaries of economic growth are rapidly approaching. This course focuses on the main sustainability challenges of the global economy, such as the depletion of natural resources, climate change and the loss of biodiversity, and explores how the European and international environmental law address these challenges. The ethos of the course is discursive and interdisciplinary (combining law with environmental and political sciences), while the methodology relies on case analysis and a real-time study of the latest legal developments in the field. The course commences by introducing the students to the foundations and the evolution of EU and international environmental law as a part of the economy. The course then explores the central principles and the rich diversity of hard and soft means of governance in transnational environmental law. Finally, the course focuses on the seminal substantive areas of modern environmental law, such as the circular economy, climate law, renewable energy law and green public procurement.
Study material: A detailed course syllabus including the readings per lecture is offered to the students online (CANVAS), as will be explained in the first session. The mandatory readings are available in an electronic form from the beginning of the course. Students are expected to have read the required reading before the scheduled lecture/seminar. The PowerPoint presentations used during the course are made available online after each lecture.
Knowledge: After the course, students have gained a thorough knowledge of the most important features of European and international environmental law (objectives, principles, institutional frameworks and most pertinent challenges) and are familiar with core substantive areas of modern international and European environmental law (such as the circular economy, climate change and renewable energy law).
Skills: On this basis, the students will be able to apply their knowledge and skills effectively and independently while addressing topical challenges of environmental law for both academic and practical purposes. The student is also able to analyse the larger legal and econo-political context of global environmental protection law and policy (historical background, current situation, future perspectives) as well as the complicated, interlinked frameworks of actors, institutions, instruments and decision-making processes of EU and international environmental law.
Finally, students will be able to engage in basic tasks of legal nature in the field of EU and international environmental law (e.g., drafting legal opinions and memoranda, advising non-legal decision makers, drafting outlines of judicial and administrative decisions, claiming and defending rights, assessing the suitability of specific environmental law instruments, etc.).
Attitudes: During the course, the students gain an attitude of a responsible yet critical participant of the sustainable society.
De beoordeling bestaat uit volgende opdrachtcategorieën:
Examen Schriftelijk bepaalt 90% van het eindcijfer
Andere bepaalt 10% van het eindcijfer
Binnen de categorie Examen Schriftelijk dient men volgende opdrachten af te werken:
Binnen de categorie Andere dient men volgende opdrachten af te werken:
Mode of Assessment: The assessment is divided into two parts: class participation and a written exam, which consists of short open-ended questions and a case study essay.
Sample questions:
Short questions, closed-book exam:
1. What are the key advantages and disadvantages of voluntary instruments as a form of environmental law? Use two informational instruments from the EU to give concrete examples.
2. Explain the precautionary principle, as well as the significance of principles in international and EU environmental law?
3. What are according to the lectures and Krämer (2011) the key challenges of implementing EU environmental law?
4. What are the cornerstones of current EU climate law? Please mention the relevant legislative instruments and main objectives and discuss their relationship (space permitting).
5. Please elaborate on the role of the “Conferences of the Parties” (COPs) of multilateral environmental agreements: What are, usually, their main functions and powers? Where do the powers of the COPs find their limits?
Open-book Case study:
1 Please write an essay of maximum 2000 words (4 pages) to respond the following two questions:
1.1) The European legal framework for waste underwent major changes in 2008. The Waste Shipment Regulation No 1013/2006 amended the rules that regulate the shipments of waste for disposal and for recovery, while the Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC especially amended certain central definitions. Below, you can find key paragraphs that have changed. Specific changes are highlighted underlining where they are particularly important. The WFD was to be implemented by December 2010.
The NewsBulletin EurActive has just published the attahced statistics [omitted in Studiedeelfiche] on the flows of solid municipal waste within Europe 2009-2012.
Do the waste flows seem to reflect the objectives of EU waste legislation as enshrined in the below-noted paragraphs? Is the main indicated amendment of the Waste Framework Directive visible in the developments?
1.2) Belgian waste management company CLIP would like to dispose of 5 containers of municipal waste and considers a shipment to appropriate waste treatment facilities in the Netherlands as a primary option. The company’s management asks you as the Legal Council of CLIP for advice on what should be considered in selecting an appropriate waste treatment facility and notifying such a shipment to the Belgian and Dutch competent authorities in order to minimize the risk of an objection to such a shipment under EU and international law.
Deze aanbieding maakt deel uit van de volgende studieplannen:
Master in International and European Law: Standaard traject (enkel aangeboden in het Engels)