Joachim Claire, Mazeau Laurène
J Int Bioethique Ethique Sci. 2017 Oct 13;28(2):69-87. doi: 10.3917/jib.282.0069.
Modern law is composed dominantly of new fields of complex legislations such as biotechnologies laws, environmental laws or intellectual property. But a particular legal area stigmatizes more than the others this increasing complexity: the water protection laws.Due to its origins deeply established in the European culture, but also due to ethical, political, economical and social issues, water protection laws appear to be the typical representation of links between risk and complexity. The European water protection law is deeply complex on two scales. First, on the European scale: this field is characterised by a growing normative proliferation for the last thirty years, which seems to follow public opinion. Second, tools used by the European Union are dedicated to be transposed in each member state. In this way, European rules are integrated in each state legal order. But in many cases, only one transposition text is not enough. For example in France, the ?nitrates? water directive n˚91/676 required sixteen transposition texts.This complexity involves several difficulties. The natural's requirements of legal security and economical efficiency necessitate the removal of all deflections that discredit the law and threaten social cohesion. However, the multiplication of sources and authors of the law created increasingly complex situations. For example, the judge must not only apply national legislation, he also has to combine it with the texts from the European Union, international regulations, or independent administrative authorities. Moreover, despite the increased number of standards, the quality of European waters has not improved significantly since thirty years.The proliferation, the instability and the complexity of normative rules concerning water has deep consequences on the legal system and the environment. This paper presents the approach proposed by the European Union laws on water, an essential natural resource. Thus, an analysis of its social impacts will be proposed. We conclude by an analysis of the capacity of European Union law to cope with legal and environmental risks.
现代法律主要由生物技术法、环境法或知识产权法等复杂立法的新领域构成。但有一个特定的法律领域比其他领域更凸显出这种日益增长的复杂性：水保护法。由于其根源深深植根于欧洲文化，同时也由于伦理、政治、经济和社会问题，水保护法似乎是风险与复杂性之间联系的典型代表。欧洲水保护法在两个层面上极其复杂。首先，在欧洲层面：过去三十年来，这一领域的特点是规范性文件不断增多，这似乎是顺应民意。其次，欧盟使用的工具旨在在每个成员国进行转化。通过这种方式，欧洲规则被纳入每个国家的法律秩序。但在许多情况下，仅一份转化文本是不够的。例如在法国，第91/676号“硝酸盐”水指令需要十六份转化文本。这种复杂性带来了诸多困难。法律安全和经济效率的自然要求使得必须消除所有有损法律信誉并威胁社会凝聚力的偏差。然而，法律来源和制定者的增多造成了日益复杂的局面。例如，法官不仅要适用国内立法，还必须将其与欧盟文本、国际法规或独立行政当局的文本相结合。此外，尽管标准数量有所增加，但三十年来欧洲水域的质量并未显著改善。关于水的规范性规则的扩散、不稳定和复杂性对法律体系和环境产生了深远影响。本文介绍了欧盟水法对这一重要自然资源提出的方法。因此，将对其社会影响进行分析。我们通过分析欧盟法律应对法律和环境风险的能力来得出结论。
