EDSD

ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION OF UKRAINE: TOWARDS THE EUROPEAN UNION STANDARDS

DOI: 10.24263/EDSD-2024-6-9

Igor Yakymenko*, Olena Dotsenko, Victoria Negretova, Oleksandra Pobuta, Maryna Hrychenko, Svitlana Madzhd

National University of Food Technologies, Kyiv, Ukraine

*Corresponding author: iyakymen@gmail.com

Environmental legislation of Ukraine is based on the fundamental principles of sustainable development and constitutes an important part of the national legislation. It includes a number of articles of the Constitution of Ukraine, the Law of Ukraine on Environmental Protection, relevant articles of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of Ukraine among many others. Starting from 2014, Ukraine began implementing the key elements of the EU legislation in terms of the EU – Ukraine Association Agreement. According to the Cabinet of Ministry of Ukraine, currently Ukraine has implemented about 80% of the European Union legal norms on environmental protection into the national legislation. A good example of the effective implementation of the EU laws into the legislation of Ukraine is the new Law of Ukraine on Waste Management (2022), which introduced basic European principles and hierarchy of waste management into Ukrainian legislative landscape. Meanwhile, one of the crucial parts of the legislation of Ukraine, which still needs a radical upgrade, is a set of norms for legal responsibility for environmental offences. Due to the outdated Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses, the state can currently impose only a symbolic fine for environmental offences. These norms rather provoke potential wrongdoers to break the laws than to follow good social practices. However, all parts of the society, including citizens, business circles, authorities and social services are deeply interested in maintaining clean environment now and for the future generations. Consequently, the legislative changes should be implemented urgently, even despite the other huge challenges for the country during these days.

CITE:

Yakymenko, I., Dotsenko, O., Negretova, V., Pobuta, O., Hrychenko, M., & Madzhd, S. (2024). Environmental legislation of Ukraine: towards the European Union standards. Selected Papers of VІ International Conference on European Dimensions of Sustainable Development, May 15-17, 2024. National University of Food Technologies, Kyiv, 61-68. https://doi.org/10.24263/EDSD-2024-6-9

DOI: 10.24263/EDSD-2024-6-9