How EU Member States implement the Environmental Liability Directive

National legislation

Member State's national legislation that transposes the Environmental Liability Directive is available here in English.

The legislation below is informally translated into English by the Commission services, approved by ELD government experts. It does not replace the original legislation adopted by Member States.

National websites

• Austria
• Bulgaria
• Finland
• Ireland
• Portugal
• Slovakia
• Spain

National Guidance

• Denmark: The Environmental Protection Agency and the Agency for Spatial and Environmental Planning (undated), Environmental Liability Directive Guidelines
• Finland: Ministry of the Environment (2012), Remediation of Significant Environmental Damage: manual on procedures
• France: Department of the Commissioner General for Sustainable Development: The Environmental Liability Law (ELL) and the Equivalency Methods (French Guide in English and French)
• Ireland: Environmental Protection Agency (2011), Environmental Liability Regulations: guidance document
• The Netherlands: (2008) Guidelines for Part 17.2 of the Dutch Environmental Management Act: measures in the event of environmental damage or its imminent threat (English translation)
• Portugal: Agencia Portuguesa do Ambiante, Ministério da Agricultura, do Mar, do Ambiente e do Ordenamento do Território (2011), Guia para a Avaliação de Ameaça Iminente e Dano Ambiental Responsabilidade Ambiental (Portuguese Guide in English)
• Spain: Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs (2008), 20680 Royal Decree 2090/2008, of 22 December, which enacts the partial implementation regulations of Environmental Liability Act 26/2007, of 23 October (English translation – informal, non-official)
• There are other guidance documents in Spanish on environmental risk analysis and economic evaluation tools that can be found on https://www.magrama.gob.es/es/calidad-y-evaluacion-ambiental/temas/responsabilidad-mediambiental/

The reports for Member States outline the experience gained by applying the Directive. All national reports are in English. Several of them were submitted officially in English while others are informally translated by the Commission from the original language.

Consult best practises across Europe related to the Environmental Liability Directive.