arbiter
JournalsAccount

The Renewable Energy Directive III and the streamlining of environmental procedures: a paradigm shift in EU environmental policy?

Alessio Devis

Journal of Environmental Law2025https://doi.org/10.1093/jel/eqaf024article
ABDC B
Weight
0.46

Abstract

The European Union (EU) faces the challenge of accelerating its energy transition to meet climate targets while protecting the environment. In 2023, it amended its Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) to accelerate the development of renewable energy by streamlining environmental procedures. This move has environmental consequences, illustrating the tension between energy, climate, and environmental objectives. The revised Directive not only narrow the scope of key obligations in nature conservation but also replaces these traditional legal instruments altogether with streamlined or so-called design techniques, eliminating undesirable interventions and outcomes by pre-structuring decision-making pathways towards specific policy goals. In light of concepts from policy studies, we argue that such regulatory choices illustrate the beginning of a potential paradigm shift in EU environmental law. Such a shift should raise concerns regarding its potentially disruptive effects on EU environmental law and require further empirical research on its implementation by Member States.

4 citations

Open via your library →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/jel/eqaf024

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{alessio2025,
  title        = {{The Renewable Energy Directive III and the streamlining of environmental procedures: a paradigm shift in EU environmental policy?}},
  author       = {Alessio Devis},
  journal      = {Journal of Environmental Law},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/jel/eqaf024},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

The Renewable Energy Directive III and the streamlining of environmental procedures: a paradigm shift in EU environmental policy?

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.46

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.37 × 0.4 = 0.15
M · momentum0.60 × 0.15 = 0.09
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.