European integration processes in the environmental sphere of Ukraine: legal guidelines, case law, and challenges of implementing the EU acquis

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the legal foundations of European integration processes in the environmental sphere of Ukraine, to identify the main directions of approximation of national legislation to the environmental acquis of the European Union, and to clarify the role of environmental law principles, judicial practice and institutional capacity of the state in ensuring the effective implementation of European environmental standards. Special attention is paid to the importance of environmental European integration in the context of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine and the future post-war recovery of the state.

The methodological basis of the research is formed by a combination of general scientific and special legal methods. The dialectical method was used to study the development of Ukrainian environmental legislation in the context of European integration. The systemic method made it possible to consider environmental European integration as a complex legal phenomenon covering legislation, public administration, judicial protection, public participation and post-war reconstruction. The formal legal method was applied to analyse Ukrainian legislation, EU legal acts, international treaties and strategic documents. The comparative legal method allowed the author to compare Ukrainian and European approaches to environmental impact assessment, strategic environmental assessment, waste management and industrial pollution control.

The article substantiates that Ukraine’s environmental European integration cannot be reduced only to the formal adoption of legal acts. Its real content lies in the transition to a preventive, transparent and procedurally justified model of environmental governance. The importance of the precautionary principle, the principle of preventive action, the principle of rectification of environmental damage at source and the “polluter pays” principle is determined. The article analyses the role of environmental impact assessment, strategic environmental assessment, waste management reform and integrated prevention and control of industrial pollution. Particular attention is paid to the significance of the case law of the Supreme Court, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights in shaping standards for the protection of environmental rights.

It is concluded that the main challenge for Ukraine is not only the implementation of the EU environmental acquis, but also ensuring its effective application in practice. European environmental standards should become real instruments for environmental protection, human rights protection, public participation and post-war reconstruction based on the principles of sustainable development.