Overview of environmental regulations in France

Environmental regulations cover all texts relating to the environment. Its sources are to be found at supranational and national levels. Numerous players are involved in defining the principles of these regulations, implementing them and monitoring compliance. Finally, it is characterized by its sector-based approach: water, air, noise, waste, polluted sites and soils, energy, health, chemicals, biodiversity, landscape, transport...

The variety of sources, players and areas of intervention led some authors to write in the 1990s that environmental regulation was more akin to "crossroads law" or "patchwork law" (Pierre Lascoumes, Gilles J. Martin, "Des droits épars au code de l'environnement", Droit et société 1995). Over the years, however, environmental regulation in France has gradually evolved from a simple juxtaposition of rules to an autonomous body with its own code and fundamental principles. These regulations are rooted in European regulations, as well as in a number of international treaties signed and ratified by France.

In order to overcome the difficulties of sectorization, operators of facilities classified for environmental protection (ICPE) benefit from an integrated approach that enables them to grasp environmental issues as a whole. This approach does not, however, resolve all the difficulties caused by the profusion of environmental legislation.