EU Fact Sheets – Environment policy: general principles and basic framework – 12-06-2025

Source: European Parliament

The EU faces complex environmental issues, ranging from climate change and biodiversity loss to resource depletion and pollution. To address these issues, European environment policy follows the principles of precaution, prevention, rectifying pollution at source and the ‘polluter pays’. In 2019, the Commission launched the European Green Deal, moving environmental concerns to the fore of EU policymaking.