WEEE&RoHS and trends in the environmental legislation in the European Union

One could argue that the European Union (EU) is the recognized world leader when it comes to producing environmental laws. Over the past 35 years the EU has developed a comprehensive body of environmental legislation, which has proven innovative and successful in many respects. However, despite the number of laws facing industry, citizens and governments, the laws continue to be broken. Environmental legislation is poorly implemented by national governments in the EU and very often the legislation is not adequately policed and enforced. This is neither good for the state of the environment, nor does it set an example for those who fail to abide by the law. In many circumstances, compliance with environmental law involves painstaking efforts. While those complying with EU environmental law should not be rewarded, those that break the law should most certainly be punished. Without an adequate policing system, what is the point of any law? The role of legislation is key to altering the environmental perceptions of society´s stakeholders, thus leading to an improvement in environmental performance.