Foreword

Over the last 25 years, European environmental policy has grown from a small group of rather technical measures to one of the best known aspects of the EU. It now covers almost the whole spectrum of environmental issues, with additional topics, such as climate change, being incorporated as new challenges arise. The value of measures at a European level has been underlined, not only by the European Parliament and other Community institutions, but also by national governments, industry and environmental NGOs. With a developed and relatively mature environmental policy now in place, the pace of change has slowed very little and there remain a significant number of further measures in the pipeline alongside changes to existing Directives and Regulations.

Understanding national policy in the UK or any other Member State is impossible without reference to the European legislation which underlies so much of it. People concerned with environmental policy need ready access to information about the Union's legislation, the reasons for adopting it, the way in which it has developed and implementation at a national level. This Manual, published in looseleaf form since 1992, aims to meet this need, not only for readers in the UK, but also for those in other countries looking for an authoritative account of European policy and its implementation in one Member State.

The importance of proper implementation of EU legislation is increasingly the subject of discussion, but discussion that has not resulted in much action by the Community institutions. This Manual shows that it is possible to present constantly updated information about the effect of EU legislation in one Member State. There really ought to be equivalent Manuals in all Member States so that comparisons can be drawn.

As Chair of the European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection for over 15 years, I have been acutely aware of the need for reliable and up to date information and analysis about European environmental policy. The Manual is widely respected as a comprehensive and well researched account of this policy in language which is more accessible than the original text but without loss of accuracy. I am aware that there are plans to include further information and to help readers to find original texts on the internet. These should be real improvements to an already invaluable source of reference and I expect the Manual to progress still further with its new publishers.