Course 2026-2027 a.y.

• Main characteristics, functions, and sources of environmental law within the EU legal framework.
• Core principles of EU environmental law, including sustainable development, the precautionary principle, the prevention principle, the source principle, and the polluter pays principle.
• Legal and regulatory techniques for environmental management, with an overview of command-and-control, market-based, and information-based regulatory strategies.
• Legal protection of nature and biodiversity under EU law.
• Regulation of key environmental sectors, including air pollution, industrial emissions, strategic environmental assessment (SEA), environmental impact assessment (EIA), and technological risk regulation.
• Environmental liability and responsibility for environmental damage within the EU legal framework.
• Overview of the main European ESG regulations and sustainability-related disclosure obligations.
• Climate change litigation and the role of courts in the enforcement and development of environmental and climate law.

• Understand the complex nature of environmental problems and the multiple ways in which law applies to and engages with environmental problems.
• Gain a deeper legal understanding of EU environmental principles and the concept of sustainable development.
• Analyze the various regulatory strategies involved in dealing with environmental problems and the role of the key actors involved in implementing such strategies within the EU.
• Gain a solid understanding of the EU legal frameworks that apply to key environmental problems, including climate change, protection of the environmental media (e.g., air pollution, nature protection), technological risk regulation and the control of industrial emissions.
• Foster team work, critical and analytical analysis and problem solving (especially through case studies and class projects).

• Locate, read, interpret, and critically analyze EU environmental legislation, regulatory instruments, and case law.
• Identify situations in which EU environmental law and related enforcement mechanisms are applicable or particularly relevant.
• Understand the role of the main institutional and private stakeholders involved in the development, implementation, and enforcement of EU environmental law, as well as the mechanisms through which they may influence regulatory processes.
• Understand the legal and regulatory challenges associated with major environmental problems addressed by environmental law and policy.
• Apply the core principles and regulatory techniques of EU environmental law to concrete legal and policy issues, including questions relating to environmental liability and climate litigation.

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Collaborative Works / Assignments

Teaching methods are based on active learning and include lectures, case studies, and the analysis of legal materials as an aid to understanding. In particular, students will engage with selected cases and judicial decisions through an initial individual reading phase followed by collective class discussion and critical analysis. Students are expected to ensure regular class attendance (at least 75%) and to actively participate in class discussions and teamwork. Slides and other materials are made available to students beforehand in order to facilitate note taking and class preparation.

• Attending students sit a written closed-book exam consisting of 3–4 questions connected to a hypothetical scenario requiring familiarity with, and critical application of, the course materials. The exam must be completed within 60 minutes and counts for 100% of the final grade. Students may take this form of examination only during the first two exam sessions. After the first two exam sessions, students sit a final written exam consisting of 3 open questions and 8 multiple-choice questions to be answered in 60 minutes, which counts for 100% of the final grade..

• The final exam is designed to assess students’ understanding of the EU legal framework applicable to major environmental issues, including climate change, protection of environmental media, technological risk regulation, nature conservation, environmental liability, and the control of industrial emissions. It also evaluates students’ ability to apply the principles and regulatory techniques of EU environmental law to concrete legal problems.

Final written exam consisting of 3 open questions and 8 multiple choice questions to be answered in 60 minutes.

This counts as 100% of the mark.

The final exam is designed to assess students’ understanding of the EU legal framework applicable to major environmental issues, including climate change, protection of environmental media, technological risk regulation, nature conservation, environmental liability, and the control of industrial emissions. It also evaluates students’ ability to apply the principles and regulatory techniques of EU environmental law to concrete legal problems.

• F. FRACCHIA, Environmental Law. Principles, Definitions and Protection Models, Editoriale Scientifica, Napoli, 2018.
• Cases, materials and selected readings provided and analised during the course (available on BBoard).
• S. KINGSTON, et al, European Environmental Law, Cambridge University Press, 2017 ISBN 978-1-107-640443 (chapters 5-6-7-8-9-11-12-13)

• F. FRACCHIA, Environmental Law. Principles, Definitions and Protection Models, Editoriale Scientifica, Napoli, 2018.
•  S. KINGSTON, et al, European Environmental Law, Cambridge University Press, 2017 ISBN 978-1-107-640443 (chapters 5-6-7-8-9-11-12-13)