EU ENVIRONMENTAL: DESCRIPTION

McKenna Long & Aldridge counsels clients on a wide range of business law and regulatory and trade matters relating to environmental activities in the European Union. Led by practitioners in our Brussels office, our European environmental practice covers both EU and Member State laws and includes the fields of chemicals, pesticides, biocides, cosmetics, food, textiles, and industrial minerals.

We represent European, American, and Asian clients and advise them on product regulation issues and product defense strategies. In addition to guiding clients through the maze of EU regulations, we often lobby EU and Member State institutions on our clients’ behalf before legislation is adopted and, when necessary, represent their interests in related litigation before the European Court of Justice, the European Court of First Instance, and various Member State courts.

Environmental and Industry Sector EU Regulatory Engagements

Our attorneys advise clients in other fields of environmental, health & safety and consumer protection law, including water and air pollution control; permitting; waste management, shipment and disposal; packaging and packaging waste; biotechnology; worker health & safety; ecological labeling; environmental auditing requirements/due diligence reviews in connection with the purchase and sale of companies in the EU; car and battery recovery schemes; toys; personal protective equipment; medical devices; sporting goods; food; and product liability.

Projects include:

Complaint with the European Commission for infringement of Community law by Germany concerning introduction of German local taxes on disposable packaging.
Counseling, bid protest, and arbitration involving NATO.
Advice to several clients in filing applications for “Green Dot” packaging take-back/recycling systems applications in Germany, Belgium and France.
Advice to a cosmetics manufacturer with respect to packaging recycling obligations for sale of products in duty-free shops.
Advice to a U.S. garment producer on EU eco-label criteria for textile products.
Counsel to a major U.S. pharmaceutical company on CFC essential use application for MDIs and stockpiling of CFCs.
Advice to a textile manufacturer on restrictions under Directive 76/769.
Advice to a U.S. electronic components producer on EU Member States’ implementation of EU regulations on shipment/classification of waste, in order to determine notification/licensing requirements for each party involved in the client’s European cross-border component take-back/recycling scheme.
Counsel to multinational electronics industry clients regarding developments on EU and national regulatory initiatives related to waste, including the compilation of a “European Hazardous Waste List”
involving classification of certain electronics industry wastes as hazardous, and on national initiatives proposing take-back and recycling of used electrical and electronic equipment.
Counseling on EU and Member State public procurement laws and regulations.
Counsel to major European cement producer on rights/obligations and national laws bearing on cross-border shipments of waste products for use as fuel in cement kilns, with reference to the EU regulation on shipments of waste and the OECD waste classification initiative.
Developing lobbying strategy for a European pharmaceutical company relating to legislative action on recycling of healthcare waste.
Advice to a multinational company on choice between ISO and EMAS environmental management schemes.
Environmental due diligence for a site in the port of Rotterdam; a steel manufacturing line in Flanders; and acquisition of sulfuric acid production plants in France and Belgium.
Advice to several industries and lobbying on development of BAT reference documents under IPPC Directive.
Advice to non-EU manufacturers of ink preparations with respect to notification exemptions for their chemicals in Switzerland and assistance in negotiating and obtaining longer phase-out periods for certain restricted chemicals in EFTA countries.
Review of product liability issues for generic drugs in several jurisdictions.

For further information on the firm's European Union environmental law practices, click on the links below: