EIEL Teaching Programme

The main objective of the EIEL teaching programme is to mainstream the study of European and international environmental law across four compulsory courses that are already offered by the Department of Law of the University of Siena (e.g. Public International Law, European Union law, Environmental Sustainability Law, and EU Agricultural and Agri-business Law), making sure that these courses expand their treatment of aspects of EU environmental law that are relevant to the respective course subjects but not currently taught in class.

This programme provides up to 200 students every year with a full-fledged knowledge of European environmental law, its most pressing contemporary challenges, and its relationship with international law. First, students get accustomed to the basic principles and sources of international environmental law and to the most important recent developments in this area, including the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement, the negotiations on a treaty governing the protection of biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, and the post-2020 framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Secondly, students are exposed to the historical evolution, objectives, sources and principles of EU environmental law and policy.

Thirdly, students are offered with an in-depth exploration of the substantive areas of regulation in EU environmental law, including biodiversity, climate, waste and chemicals, fisheries and land use change.

Finally, thanks to the mainstreaming of the lectures across at least three courses, students learn how the environmental dimension is pervasive across different areas of EU law and policy-making, interacting with the norms and principles of, inter alia, the European Single Market, the Common Agricultural Policy, and the EU external action.

Fundamental notions of International Environmental Law (Prof Elisa Morgera – 6 hours)

Professor Elisa Morgera‘s lectures focus on fundamental notions of International Environmental Law. She provides students with introductory notions about the sources and principles of international environmental law, the role of the EU as an actor in the intergovernmental negotiation of multilateral environmental agreements, the main environmental conventions, and the relationship between international environmental law and the EU legal order.

European Environmental Law 1 (Prof Riccardo Pavoni – 24 hours)

Professor Riccardo Pavoni covers both general aspects of EU environmental law and thematic issues. His lectures discuss: (i) the origins and development of EU environmental law and policy; (ii) the decision-making procedures and legal bases of EU action on the environment; (iii) the objectives, sources and general principles of EU environmental law; (iv) the environmental jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice; (v) the European Landscapes Convention and the environmental jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and European Committee of Social Rights; and (vi) EU fisheries law and the protection of the marine environment.

European Environmental Law 2 (Mr Dario Piselli – 8 hours)

Mr Dario Piselli’s lectures focus on a range of contemporary themes of EU environmental law, including: (i) EU law and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; (ii) EU biodiversity law (e.g. Birds and Habitats Directives; Invasive Species Regulation; EU Water Framework and Marine Strategy Framework Directives; EU Timber and ‘CITES’ Regulations; role of the EU in the post-2020 framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity, or CBD); (iii) EU climate change and energy law (e.g. the EU and the implementation of the Paris Agreement; the EU Emissions Trading System; EU Effort-sharing Regulation; Renewable Energy Directive; Energy Efficiency Directive); and (iv) EU waste and chemicals legislation (e.g. REACH Regulation; Circular Economy Action Plan; Waste Framework Directive).

Common Agricultural and Fisheries Policies (Prof Sonia Carmignani – 6 hours)

Professor Sonia Carmignani addresses the environmental dimension of the Common Agricultural Policy, the Common Fisheries Policy, the biofuel-related aspects of the Renewable Energy Directive and the Directive to Reduce Indirect Land Use Change for Biofuels and Bioliquids.

European Food Law and Civil Law Aspects of Environmental Damage (Dr Gabriele Salvi – 6 hours)

Dr Gabriele Salvi deals with the legal aspects of EU food law and the role of the European Food Authority, as well as with the EU regulation of private law liabilities and damage resulting from activities in the areas of agriculture, food, feed and fisheries that are dangerous to the environment.