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This page provides information on key meetings and activities, as well as related documentation that will be of interest to practitioners working on the EU Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) and related environmental damage assessment and remediation issues.
Meetings
This website tracks key meetings and conferences directly and indirectly related to environmental damage assessment and remediation issues. A listing of such meetings in the current year can be found here. Contact us at info@NRDonline.com if you know of additional relevant meetings. Information on specific meetings, 2003 to present, can be provided upon request.
Activities
The activities listed below represent some of the projects currently underway relative to the ongoing implementation of the ELD, as well as activities undertaken by government, industry and others.
Tracking of Cases Arising under Member State Legislation Implementing the ELD
The European Commission and others are monitoring cases arising under member state legislation implementing the ELD. Information on such cases may be sent info@NRDonline.com.
GOVERNMENT
Commission ELD Workshop for Practitioners and Stakeholders
On 8 November 2011, the European Commission convened a “Stakeholder and Practitioner Workshop on the Implementation of the Environmental Liability Directive” in Brussels. Workshops participants included representatives from the European Commission, Member State Government Authorities, Industrial Companies and Associates, Insures and other practitioners. Complete information, including the Final Programme and the Workshop Report, can be found on the European Commission’s Environmental Liability Website.
Commission ELD Report to the European Parliament
In October 2010, the European Commission adopted and sent to the Parliament and other governing bodies a report required under Article 14(2) of the Environmental Liability Directive pertaining to effectiveness of the Directive in terms of remediation and the availability of associated financial security instruments. The purpose of the Report was to assess the effectiveness of the ELD in terms of actual remediation of environmental damage and the availability at reasonable costs of, and conditions for, financial security for the activities listed in Annex III of the ELD. For more information, see the Commission’s website or contact us at info@NRDonline.com.
Commission ELD Workshops
In June 2008 and July 2009, the European Commission convened two Stakeholder Workshops in order to identify and discuss key issues related to the ELD’s implementation. The Workshops were held in order for the Commission to obtain input to their 2010 Report to Parliament (required under Article 14(2) of the ELD) on actual remediation of environmental damage and availability of insurance products (see above).
Member State Guidance
Some Member State governments are preparing guidance documents to facilitate the implementation of the ELD into national laws. Final guidance documents have been prepared by Walloon Region of Belgium, Denmark, The Netherlands and The United Kingdom (see below). In addition, some Member States have embedded guidance in legislative documents. Additional information on emerging guidance in Member States may be sent to info@NRDonline.com.
- Walloon of Belgium: Circular relating to the implementation of the mode of responsibility environmental
- Denmark
- The Netherlands: Handreiking bij titel 17.2 Wet milieubeheer: maatregelen bij milieuschade of een onmiddellijke dreiging daarvan
- United Kingdom: The Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2009 Guidance for England and Wales
Resource Equivalency Methods for Assessing Environmental Damage in the EU (REMEDE)
The REMEDE (Resource Equivalency Methods for Assessing Environmental Damage in the EU) Project, sponsored by the European Commission, was launched in October 2006 to "support Annex 2 of the Directive which lists different methodologies that can be used for this common framework". The final “Toolkit” report, released in 2008, identified methods to help determine the proper scale of remediation necessary to “offset” the environmental damage. For more information, visit the REMEDE website.
INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITY
Group’s Briefing for Industry on ELD Implementation Practices
On 7 November 2011, the Ad-Hoc Industry Natural Resource Damage Group convened, at BUSINESSEUROPE in Brussels, a Briefing for Industry on “Emerging Implementation Practice under Europe’s Environmental Liability Directive”. Participants included representatives from industrial companies and associations, as well as some invited attorney, scientist and economist practitioners. See Final Programme. For further information, including presentations, contact us at info@NRDonline.com.
Ongoing Analysis of ELD Implementation and Development of Best Practices (Ad-Hoc Industry Natural Resource Damage Group)
Since the 2004 passage of the ELD, the Ad-Hoc Industry Natural Resource Damage Group (“Group”) has prepared and disseminated numerous documents in an effort to foster the “reasonable, balanced and predictable” implementation of the ELD throughout the European Union. These documents have included White Papers, Issue Papers, Case Study Analyses, a compendium of best practice principles and other documentation for use by multiple audiences. Moreover, the Group also has held a series of seminars focused on guiding principles and best practices involving multiple stakeholder groups, including the European Commission, Member States Government Authorities, industry and others. For a full listing of documents prepared by the Group, as well as past and future Group ELD-related meetings, contact us at info@NRDonline.com
Financial Security Issues
The Ad-Hoc Industry Natural Resource Damage Group prepared, in 2007, the “Draft White Paper: Financial Security, Insurance and the Environmental Liability Directive” which identifies how financial security and insurance can be usefully employed in the context of the ELD, and how the debate on insurance should inform the processes in connection with the ELD’s implementation and application. The Draft White Paper was revised and updated in July 2009.
INSURANCE COMMUNITY
The European Insurance and Reinsurance Federation ("CEA") has convened three workshops since 2007 concerning the ELD and related financial security issues. At its most recent Workshop, held in April 2009, CEA released the document, “Navigating the Environmental Liability Directive: A practical guide for insurance underwriters and claim handlers”, which provides analysis related to “areas that insurers may wish to consider when providing risk transfer solutions for the resulting liabilities”. For further information, see www.cea.eu.
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