1. General context

Spurred on by the UN's positions on the subject and underpinned by the polluter-pays and precautionary principles, the European Union's environmental policy has, for over forty years, led to the adoption of successive programs aimed at preventing or, at the very least, reducing the environmental pressures exerted by companies. While guaranteeing their continued competitiveness, the measures taken were intended to encourage them to integrate the environmental variable into their development strategy.