The first interventions of the European Community in the environmental sphere date back to 1972. In the twenty years that followed, the measures taken by the EEC comprised approximately 200 legislative acts consisting essentially in the limitation of water and atmospheric pollution and in waste management. The Treaty of Maastricht on the European Union of 1992 conferred the rank of political priority on the European intervention in the environmental sector, while the Treaty of Amsterdam of 1997, through the adoption of the principle of sustainable development, enunciated the “achievement of a high level of environmental protection” as one of the Union’s top priorities”. Lastly, the “Fifth programme of action in the environmental sphere – for a lasting and sustainable development (1992-2000)” represented the launch of an EU action of horizontal type, i.e. one that would take into account, within the various EU policies, all the factors of pollution (industry, energy, agriculture, tourism and transport). The environmental legislation of the EU regulates the various areas of the sector: implementation and control of EC legislation on the environment, waste management, acoustic and atmospheric pollution, water protection and management, protection of nature and biodiversity, industrial risks, ecological quality controls, evaluation of the impact of particular plans and programmes on the environment. The most important financial instrument of the European Union for the protection of the environment is the “Life” Programme, subdivided into “Life-environment”, “Life-nature” and “Life-third countries”. Alongside it, various credit facilities exist for funding projects of lesser scale in the environmental information sector and in that of raising awareness of the legal risks posed by pollution and environmental degradation. The more recent EU provisions on environmental issues include the decision of the Council (25/4/2002) to approve the Kyoto Protocol on the reduction of greenhouse gases. The European Community is also a signatory of numerous other international conventions for the protection of the environment.
