Tag: Article 193 TFEU

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The High Court on the lawfulness of the proposed ivory ban.

Update 18 May 2020 confirmed today by the Court of Appeal in [2020] EWCA Civ 649.

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s post on e-collars, a short note on yet another trade and animal welfare /biodiversity case. In [2019] EWHC 2951 (Admin) Friends of Antique Cultural Treasures v Secretary of State for the environment, food and rural affairs, Justice Jay (‘Jay J’ even though correct might sound a bit too intimate) upheld the UK’s planned ban on ivory trade, stricter than anything in place elsewhere. As a general rule, the Act interdicts the sale of antique worked ivory, that is to say pre-1947 artefacts, unless one of limited exemptions is applicable.

The discussion engages CITES, pre-emption /exhaustion by harmonised EU law, the environmental guarantee of Article 193 TFEU (albeit not, oddly, the issue of notification to the EC), Article 34 TFEU, and A1P1 ECHR.

On uncertainty, Justice Jay refers to the precautionary principle: at 155: ‘we are in the realm of scientific and evidentiary uncertainty, and the need for a high level of protection. §3.1 of the Commission’s 2017 Guidance makes that explicit. Although the evidence bearing on the issues of indirect causation and demand in Far Eastern markets may be uncertain, statistically questionable, impressionistic and often anecdotal, I consider that these factors do not preclude the taking of bold and robust action in the light of the precautionary principle.’

Rosalind English has analysis here and refers even to Edmund de Waal’s novel The Hare with the Amber Eyes which has been on my reading list after my wife recommended it – this is a good reminder.

Geert.

EU environmental law (with Leonie Reins), Edward Elgar, 2018, p.28 ff., and Chapter 17 (p.308 ff).

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The TTIP and the EU’s regulatory standards: Do BITs require an environmental guarantee?

Consultancy Ecologic have released a report which they have prepared for the European Parliament. It reviews the impact which the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) might have on the environmental ‘acquis’ of the European Union (the collected body of EU environmental law). A wide range of issues are discussed – best have a look at the report for all the details. Included are the risks associated with standing for private companies under classic BITs, which as I reported earlier, the EC have recently defended.

The report downplays the impact which the TTIP might have on ECJ case-law [‘The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has consistently held that international trade and investment agreements only have direct effect within the EU in very limited circumstances. Thus, in past ECJ cases, private companies have not normally been able to rely on e.g. WTO law for invalidating an EU action or claiming damages from the EU. This is likely to apply to TTIP as well.’] That I believe is a touch incautious. The ECJ might qualify its case-law, in particular given that the extent of integration of a trade agreement, is part of the reason for the ECJ to reject direct effect. If the TTIP eventually will include the type of deep(ish) integration forecast, the Court might well find it to have direct effect in certain circumstances.

The report suggests the EP keep a close eye on the provisions in the agreement with an impact on environmental law. This includes the type of regulatory co-operation which the TTIP might yield: a focus on process or on outcome, as neatly summarised by Simon Lester. It makes me wonder whether the Agreement might do with an Article 193 TFEU-type ‘environmental guarantee’.

Geert.

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