European Union Law: on the Environment

To begin with, I have chosen to discuss this topic because it is a pressing issue, not only
confined to the boundaries of a continent or the European Union's jurisdiction for that matter,
but for the entire world. Protecting the environment is the responsibility of all the members of
the international society. It is my personal belief that the environment should be much more
of a priority on the agenda of global problems in need of resolve, because as much as people
hate to admit it, everyone will have to suffer the potential consequences sooner or later, if the
situation does not change for the better.
Why is protecting the environment a necessity? We live in a world where economy is
the main engine that thrusts a nation forward. Economic cooperation was also one of the main
purposes of the European Community's activity as it began to come into shape. History has
proven both the importance of having a balanced economy, but also the hardships that a crisis
can imply. However, no matter how prosperous an economic system may be, the multitude of
its comprising active industries can leave a severe dent on the environment and its quality. Of
course, there are plenty of people who turn a blind eye to the long term effects of pollution,
but if humanity continues in the same manner it has done so far, we might wake up one day
on an uninhabitable planet.
The European Union's legislation is in fact quite generous when it comes to providing
legal sources as a guarantee for the protection of the environment. The European Union offers
a multitude of directives, action programs and permits for waste management, waste
shipment, waste disposal, pollution prevention and control, and last but not least, recycling.
One of the main difficulties that a member state might have to deal with is waste
disposal. Disposing of waste in a properly fashion is costly and would require plenty of
resources, but depositing waste is not a practical solution either. Therefore, in order to prevent
such problems from adding up, the EU laws and directives aim to amend the legislation to
improve the implementing process, prevent waste and promote effective recycling.
It all sounds beautiful and environmentally-friendly. But the truth is that 'going by the
book' (as in, respecting the EU laws) is a very expensive solution that not all people are
willing to accept. Protecting the environment means making compromises, as does recycling.
In some cases, the higher argument in favor of profit and the interests of booming businesses
might even disempower a noble cause such as a clean, pollution-free environment.
Another problem is that in other cases, matters are only stated as having been done. For
instance, there was a brief amount of time when the local garbage disposal company requested
that we separate our garbage into several different categories, because they were supposed to
collect all recyclable materials and proceed with the next steps of recycling them. Even
though the company had stated the fact that they were recycling, I later found out that they
had never carried out such a process and they would still dispose of our garbage the same way
they had done before.
To conclude with, I believe that actual and effective improvements in protecting the
environment can only happen once the European Union implements a more accurate and strict
means of controlling the way in which member states carry out directives, as well as a series
of more direct sanctions that would discourage any intentions of breaking the law.