The Changes in the Approach to Environmental Protection by the European Union and its Member States and the Regulatory Innovations in Italy

Abstract

This essay analyses the recent changes in the approach to environmental protection by the European Union and its Member States, with particular regard to the Italian regulatory innovations. In particular, it analyses the following topics: the European Union’s evolution in protecting the environment and its impact on policies and regulation of the Member States; recognition of the “value” of environmental protection by Italy’s Constitutional Court; the Italian environmental reforms (the ecological transition and constitutional reform of 2022 on the matter). The aim of this study is to identify some possible consequences of the new approaches, at European and Italian level, to environmental issues. Keywords: Environmental Protection in the European Union and in Italy; Green Deal and Next Generation EU programmes; Ecological transition in Italy; Italian Constitutional reform of 2022 on the matter of environmental protection; environmental, economic and social policies.