Written by Elena Bassoli
Reading time 5 minutes
Environmental policy in the age of competitiveness
The European Union has never been short on environmental ambition. Over the past few decades, it’s built one of the most comprehensive environmental frameworks in the world, covering everything from pollution and biodiversity to waste, chemicals, soils, and circular economy.
That’s genuinely impressive. But here’s the thing: in 2026, nobody’s really asking how many laws Europe has passed. The question is whether any of it actually works.
With half of the top 10 risks being environmental in nature, according to the World Economic Forum (see WEF Global Risks Report 2026 ), environmental policy is increasingly being judged less by the number of laws adopted and more by implementation, enforcement, and delivery.
This is becoming more visible in the work of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment. Recent remarks by DG ENV Director-General Eric Mamer capture this transition clearly.
Ahead of the March Environment Council, he argued that the EU already has “excellent legislation,” and that the priority must now be implementation and enforcement, pollution prevention through more sustainable products and production processes, and stronger financing to close the investment gap.
From legislating to delivering
The clearest example of this new emphasis is the Zero Pollution Action Plan. On 29 January 2026, the Commission adopted the mid-term review of the plan, under the title “Delivering clean air, ocean, water and soil”. The word “delivering” matters: environmental policy is now understood as a foundation for resilience, public health, food security, and long-term competitiveness.
Soil degradation, pollution, biodiversity loss, and water stress are not standalone concerns. Instead, they directly affect agricultural productivity, exposure to floods and droughts, and citizens’ quality of life.
In this context, DG ENV’s role is expanding beyond rule-making. It increasingly acts as a coordinator, facilitator, and partner, helping Member States translate EU law into tangible outcomes.
Take the EU Soil Monitoring Law, which came into effect in December 2025; while soil may not always grab headlines, it plays a crucial role in food production, biodiversity, carbon storage, and water management.
Alarmingly, estimates suggest that between 60% and 70% of soils in the EU are in poor or degraded condition ( see Soil Monitoring Law). Rather than rushing to impose uniform restoration requirements, this law prioritizes collecting reliable data and fostering a shared understanding of the issues, recognizing that effective policy creation is reliant on solid information and collaboration.
This reflects a broader governance principle: implementation works best when it is evidence-based, measurable, and adapted to local realities
A similar evolution is visible in the Zero Pollution Action Plan. While the long-term objective, part of the European Green Deal, of achieving a toxic-free environment remains unchanged, the focus has increasingly shifted toward enforcement, monitoring, and administrative capacity.
The Commission’s mid-term review conducted in January 2026 shows that progress has been made in areas such as air quality and plastic pollution. However, delivery remains uneven across Member States.
This underlines a central reality: environmental goals depend not only on setting targets, but also on investment, coordination, and institutional capacity on the ground (see Zero Pollution Mid Term Review).
Implementation in the era of competitiveness and simplification
The political context of 2026 reinforces this shift. The Joint Declaration on the EU legislative priorities places strong emphasis on competitiveness, simplification, resilience, and proper enforcement (see Joint Declaration on legislative priorities for 2026).
Environmental objectives remain central, but they are increasingly embedded within a broader agenda of sustainable prosperity and economic security. This makes implementation inseparable from simplification.
Businesses, local authorities and SMEs often argue that the problem is not only the ambition of EU rules, but also their complexity, composed of overlapping procedures, reporting requirements and administrative burdens, which can make implementation harder than it needs to be.
In response, the Commission has launched several “Omnibus” simplification packages, covering areas from SMEs and digitalisation to chemicals and defence readiness. These initiatives aim to streamline procedures, reduce administrative burdens, and improve coherence across policy frameworks.
For environmental governance, this moment represents both an opportunity and a test. Simplification, if carefully designed, can strengthen implementation by increasing clarity, predictability, and legal coherence. Clearer rules are easier to enforce. Coherent frameworks reduce fragmentation within the Single Market. Administrative feasibility increases compliance.
However, simplification must preserve environmental integrity. If it creates uncertainty or weakens safeguards, it risks undermining both credibility and effectiveness. The real challenge is not choosing between ambition and competitiveness, but ensuring that they reinforce one another.
The political dimension of implementation
Implementation unfolds in territories with different economic models, political sensitivities, and administrative resources. Farmers, foresters, regional authorities, and small businesses often stand at the frontline of environmental policy. They experience both the immediate compliance costs and the longer-term benefits.
The political dimension becomes particularly visible when environmental objectives intersect with EU spending. Discussions surrounding the future of the Common Agricultural Policy have illustrated these tensions. The Commission has pointed to an estimated €122 billion annual investment gap in environmental protection and argued that closing this gap requires mainstreaming climate and environmental objectives across EU spending programmes.
The proposed target of dedicating 35% of the EU budget to climate and environmental objectives, potentially mobilising up to €700 billion, reflects the critical need for proper alignment between policy and funding. Laws without investment remain symbolic. Investment without coordination risks inefficiency. Effective environmental governance requires both.
The broader geopolitical landscape also shapes this transition. The 2026 priorities highlight defence readiness, energy security, and strategic autonomy as central objectives. In such a context, environmental policy must demonstrate its contribution to resilience and competitiveness.
Healthy ecosystems reduce disaster risks. Sustainable resource management lowers dependency on external suppliers. Clean technologies strengthen industrial leadership. Environmental implementation, when successful, reinforces Europe’s long-term economic stability and strategic autonomy.
Conclusion
The years ahead will be a real test for EU environmental governance to prove that environmental goals can be turned into outcomes people can actually see and feel. Do rivers become cleaner? Does air quality improve? Are soils restored? Are the rules clear enough for businesses and local authorities to apply without getting lost in complexity?
In the end, the success of Europe’s environmental project will not be measured by how many directives it adopts. It will be measured by the health of its ecosystems, the resilience of its food and water systems, and the confidence of its citizens that environmental policy is not just ambitious, but effective.
My name is Elena Bassoli, and I am a 20-year-old Italian student pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at KU Leuven University in Brussels. Moving to the heart of Europe was a life-changing decision that has allowed me to immerse myself in an international environment and get closer to the European Institutions. Being a part of this dynamic and stimulating community has laid the foundation of my knowledge in the field of Business and Corporate Social Responsibility.
I am passionate about driving positive change, which is why, as a creator within the Circle of Sustainable Europe, I aim to raise awareness and promote sustainable practices in the corporate world through my content. It is my firm belief that the future of our planet depends on our ability to make responsible decisions today, and I am committed to doing my part in making it a reality.
