ABSTRACT
EU environmental legislation is traditionally based on so-called ‘command and control’ legislation. Typical command and control legislation functions through a permitting regime, under which a regulated activity is prohibited unless the operator of the activity has a permit. The permit determines the conditions under which the activity is allowed to take place and includes, in particular, limit values for emissions into various aspects of the environment, as well as monitoring and reporting provisions. A modern example of a command and control instrument is the Community’s Directive concerning integrated pollution prevention and control (henceforth ‘the IPPC Directive’), described in more detail in Box II.1.15
BOX II.1 COMMAND AND CONTROL LEGISLATION: THE 1996 INTEGRATED POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL DIRECTIVE
The IPPC Directive seeks to regulate emissions in the air, to water and land by requiring an integrated permit for the categories of industrial activities listed in its Annex I. Annex I lists a large number of industrial installations, including, inter alia, energy industries such as combustion installations with a rated thermal input exceeding 50 MW, mineral oils and gas refineries, coke ovens and coal gasification and liquefaction plants.
