The Fiscal Dimension of the Environment Policy

Present for the first time on the European order of business at the beginning of the ‘70s, the concern for the environment gains a distinctive nature as the Rome Club signalled the diminishing of the natural resources and the rapid deterioration of the quality of water, air and soil, of climate in general. Starting with 1972 the community environment policy was created and developed as one of the most important common policies. Although it does not match the funding for the regional or the agricultural policies, the environment policy has become important due to the fact that it has to be approached when conceiving and applying the rest of community policies. The sustainable development strategy, the way it was adopted and (re)confirmed at the international summits in the last two decades (Rio – 1992, Johannesburg – 2002 and the Kyoto protocol), has become the main element of action of the environment policy measures. The preoccupation for nature precedes and accompanies all actions and orientations of social and economic policies because it is motivated by the care for the primordial heritage of the future generations: the planet’s health. The environment policy reflects the interest of the entire society in nature and the numerous green movements, environment organizations and political parties, that display a successful raise on the political arena, express the evolution of mentalities and attitudes as well as the degree of accountability of the governors and the governed towards this vital aspect for the present and the future.