EU environmental law and policy is based on the precautionary principle and on the principles that:
- preventive action should be taken;
- environmental damage should as a priority be rectified at source; and
- the polluter should pay.
The preventive principle provides that operators should take measures to avoid damaging the environment. If prevention fails and a pollution incident happens, the polluter pays principle provides that the person who caused the environmental damage should pay for its remediation and restoration. If an operator cannot bear the costs of its environmental obligations due to its incapacity to pay in full or its insolvency or dissolution, the public purse and the environment are put at risk. The environment and public purse can be protected by putting effective financial provision in place at the outset of the operator’s activities to cover such environmental liabilities as and when they arise.