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Climate Change Laws of the World
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European Union

Federative (27 nation states)
Political Groups
G20
World Bank Income Group
High income
Share of Global Emissions
8.01%
Legislation
56
Laws, Acts, Constitutions (legislative branch)
Policies
26
Policies, strategies, decrees, action plans (from executive branch)
Litigation
Coming soon
Court cases and tribunal proceedings
Targets
57
Climate targets in National Law & Policy

Latest Documents

The Green Deal Industrial Plan

, 2023

This Plan was released by Commission President von der Leyen. It aims to enhance the competitiveness of Europe's net-zero industry and support the fast transition to climate neutrality. It is a preliminary of the proposed Net-Zero Industry Act and the Critical Raw Materials Act, and an unofficial response to the USA's Inflation Reduction Act.

Directive (EU) 2022/2464 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2022 amending Regulation (EU) No 537/2014, Directive 2004/109/EC, Directive 2006/43/EC and Directive 2013/34/EU, as regards corporate sustainability reporting (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive)

, 2022

This Directive amends the previous directive governing the reporting of non-financial information in financial disclosures. It extends the scope of reporting obligations to a much wider set of companies headquartered or operating in the European Union. They new obligations will apply from the 2024 financial year.The Directive requires member states to introduce measures to...

Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions as amended (Capital Requirements Regulation)

, 2022

According to article 1, the Capital Requirements Regulation lays down uniform rules concerning general prudential requirements that institutions, financial holding companies and mixed financial holding companies supervised under Directive 2013/36/EU shall comply with in relation to the following items:(a) own funds requirements relating to entirely quantifiable, uniform an...

Emission performance standards for heavy vehicles: Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/X)

, 2022

Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/X amends Regulation (EU) 2017/2400 as regards the determination of the CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of medium and heavy lorries and heavy buses and to introduce electric vehicles and other new technologies.

Regulation (EU) 2022/869 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2022 on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure

, 2022

As stated in article 1, this regulation lays down guidelines for the timely development and interoperability of the priority corridors and areas of trans-European energy infrastructure (energy infrastructure priority corridors and areas) set out in Annex I that contribute to ensuring climate change mitigation, in particular achieving the Union’s 2030 targets for energy and...

Targets (57)

Request to download all target data (.csv)

Legislative Process

The legislative process at the European Union (EU) level involves the European Commission (independent from national governments), the European Parliament (elected by EU citizens), and the Council of the European Union, which represents Member States. Most often, the Commission proposes new legislation, but it is the Council and Parliament together that pass the laws.
The main forms of EU legislation are directives, regulations and decisions. Directives and regulations can be adopted by the Council in conjunction with the European Parliament or by the Commission alone. A regulation is a general measure that is binding in all its parts, directly appli­cable in the Member States and addressed to everyone. A directive, on the other hand, is addressed to the member states. It is binding as to the result to be achieved, but leaves member states to choose the form and method they adopt to achieve it. The Commission is required to verify that member states transpose correctly and in due time the directives that have been adopted and can sanction them if they fail to do so. Decisions are EU laws relating to specific cases. They can be adopted by the Council (sometimes jointly with the European Parliament) or by the Commission.
The Commission can also publish Action Plans, White Papers, Green Papers, Commission regulations and Communications. An Action Plan serves to detail actions needed to reach the goals set in individual directives. A White Paper sets out the Commission’s policy programme in a specific area. Before a White Paper is written, a Green Paper is published, which is a consultative document including suggestions and options for new policy. Each single proposal for legislation announced in a White Paper or deriving from a policy initiative announced in it is subject to one or more rounds of open consultation and an impact assessment. White Papers, Green Papers and Communications can serve to identify future legislative proposals. Commission regulations primarily serve as administrative acts on the functioning of the EU Institutions. The Treaty of Lisbon (2009) created a new category of legislation, Delegated Acts, by which, under strict conditions, the legislator can delegate to the Commission the power to adopt acts amending non-essential elements of a legislative act, in particular to specify certain technical details.