BOOK REVIEW
RENEWABLE ENERGY
LAW IN THE EU
Legal Perspectives on Bottom-up Approaches
Edited by Marjan Peeters and
Thomas Schomerus
Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 978 1 78347 318 2
www.e-elgar.com
RENEWABLE ENERGY AND THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS THROUGHOUT THE EU – THE
FIRST DETAILED EXAMINATION OF THE LEGAL ISSUES
An appreciation by
Phillip Taylor MBE and
Elizabeth Taylor of
Richmond Green Chambers
In the gradual and predictably difficult transition to renewable energy across
Europe, what are the legal issues confronting regional authorities within the
European Union? Will it be possible for every
EU member state to move to renewable energy within the time frames required under
EU law? And what will be the required role of local authorities, i.e. local/regional governments in this incredibly complex process?
For obvious reasons of cultural diversity, arriving at useful and workable answers to these questions in the EU is no easy task! This book however, tackles these issues head-on. A compilation of expert research from fifteen international contributors, it focuses on the ‘legal frameworks within which regional authorities in
EU Member States must act in the course of the necessary transition towards a sustainable, renewable energy system’.
The transition referred to
must inevitably evolve within the framework of EU law, which has imposed legally binding targets on its
Member States through Directive 2009/28 (which we may all be hearing more of in the not too distant future).
In explaining this Directive in detail, the book lists the various target dates it has imposed for implementing the successive necessary stages toward establishing renewable energy programmes throughout the EU. With some
EU countries keen and others reluctant to achieve the required renewable energy goals – this is, again, no easy task.
All of which points up the importance of this book.
Recently published by
Edward Elgar as part of their series entitled ‘
New Horizons in Environmental and
Energy Law.’ it is apparently the first book to ‘map legal questions around renewable energy from the perspective of local governments’.
The diverse body of research has been led by its able editors, both experts in this field. Marjan Peeters is a
Professor of
Environmental Policy and Law at
Maastricht University. Thomas Schomerus is a Professor of Energy and
Environmental Law at Leuphana
University,
Luneburg, Germany.
The research is detailed and extensively footnoted throughout, so you have a wealth of references to other sources of information and comment – and to help you navigate, there is a detailed index at the back.
This is a timely contribution to the body of literature on renewable energy and the role and responsibilities of the local and regional government authorities which must -- like it or not -- eventually implement it across the European Union.
Environmental lawyers, as well as decision makers in local governments throughout the EU will definitely need to acquire this book.
The publication date is cited as at 2014.
- published: 13 Mar 2015
- views: 125