COMBATING THE POLLUTION OF SURFACE WATERS OF UKRAINE BY BRINGING ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION CLOSER TO THE ACQUIS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Abstract

The issue of surface water conservation in Ukraine and globally is in the focus of attention of the scientific community, both among natural scientists and lawyers. To date, after obtaining the status of a candidate for membership in the European Union, Ukraine has assumed international legal obligations in the field of adaptation of domestic legislation to the EU standards. Among many important changes, such as judicial and anti-corruption reforms, we have committed ourselves to adapt our environmental legislation to the EU norms. The authors' attention was drawn to the issue of surface water protection by amending Ukraine's regulatory acts in accordance with the standards of the European Community. The purpose of the study is to develop proposals for amending the national legislation in the field of surface water protection to ensure its compliance with the EU acquis. To achieve this goal, the study analysed the EU directives and case law of the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as the ECHR, Strasbourg Court). The following methods were used in the study. The method of analysis and synthesis was used to analyse the legislation and court practice to formulate conclusions and formulate the research issues. The dialectical method was useful for a comprehensive consideration of surface water protection in its systemic connection with law enforcement practice and the significance of the said unlawful act in the context of European integration for society as a whole. The novelty of this research is a comprehensive analysis of the issues of conservation and protection of surface waters through the prism of adaptation of national legislation to the standards of the European Union. The following conclusions were drawn in the course of the study. The authors have concluded that certain legislative acts, namely the Criminal Code of Ukraine and the Code of Administrative Offences of Ukraine, need to be amended. As for the prospects for further research, it should be noted that the issues of institutional competence of public authorities in the field of surface water protection and procedural aspects of protection of the relevant rights remain unexplored.