Environment, Climate and Energy: Regulatory Strategies

The course aims to provide students with an overall understanding of the legal instruments that shape the European Union's climate and energy policy from the perspective of the European Union's international commitments and their impact on the domestic legal systems of Member States.
The course places particular emphasis on instruments that innovatively promote climate and energy policy objectives by employing precise regulatory strategies that affect broad sectors of the European Union's actions in terms of both its internal policy and international relations. Teaching will focus on new ways of understanding "sustainability", in particular as a criterion for distinguishing and selecting "environmentally sustainable activities" and "environmentally unsustainable activities" in a competitive market.

Upon completing the course, students will understand the role of regulation in achieving sustainability objectives and will have knowledge of the regulatory framework for environmental protection and how it serves as a "legal asset" through which the European Union delivers its environmental and energy policy. Students will be able to identify the strategic elements of Union policy, its relationship with the relevant instruments of international law and the effects of the European Union's actions on national laws. Students will also understand the concept of "sustainability" and the implications of applying it to economic activity in a competitive market.
By taking part in classroom activities, students will also develop the ability to independently analyse and assess the European Union's making of environmental and energy law, including regulations different from those examined during the course, to prepare them for their future studies and careers.