The Relevance of Environmental Justice for the Legal Framework in the European Union

Abstract

Environmental justice is a relatively new and unknown notion in European environmental law. The notion originally comes from the US. Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people. The protection of environmental justice plays a prominent role in the US environmental policy. This contribution examines, after a brief history of environmental justice, the relevance of environmental justice, the relevance of environmental justice for the legal framework in the EU. It includes the results of an empirical research and a test of the EU legal framework. It concludes the results of an empirical research and a test of the EU legal framework. It concludes that environmental justice is not yet something that goes without saying within the EU.