UCD Environmental Law Field Trip to Brussels
Each year, members of our MSc in Environmental and Climate Law class travel to Brussels with (opens in a new window)Dr. Andrew Jackson to meet with DG Environment of the European Commission and to visit the European Parliament. This year’s trip took place earlier this week, on Tuesday 20th May.
The trip forms part of the law school’s ‘Environmental Moot Court’ module, which is a core module on the MSc programme. The module is based on a common EU environmental law case study that is agreed pre-Christmas each year with colleagues from universities across the EU: from the Université Catholique de Lyon in France, the Universities of Greifswald and Münster in Germany, Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and UCD in Ireland.
This year Dr. Jackson drafted the case study, and the national moots (mock trials) focused on the topical issue of the EU’s Environmental Impact Assessment Directive and oil/gas extraction. The central issue was whether the greenhouse gas emissions that are released by end user burning of oil/gas (so-called ‘Scope 3 emissions’) constitute environmental effects of the extraction project and need to be assessed as part of the EIA of the extraction project.
The Environmental Moot Court module comprises three elements:
- A national moot in each country - this year our national moot was held in late April and the presiding judge was again UCD’s own (opens in a new window)Professor Suzanne Kingston, Judge of the EU General Court.
- A comparative session involving a discussion between all participating students/universities (by Zoom) - this was held in early May, and participating students from UCD presented the outcome of the Irish moot, followed by a discussion of the similarities and differences between the outcomes in the different countries.
- A trip to Brussels where we are hosted by DG Environment of the European Commission at their Breydel offices by Parc Cinquantenaire, where the outcomes of the national moots are presented by the students from each country, and an open discussion is held with the Commission, followed by lunch and afterwards a presentation by the Commission/Q&A regarding the Commission’s role in the development and enforcement of EU environmental law.
After our meeting with the Commission, we make the short walk to the European Parliament, where this year we were kindly hosted by the German MEP Christine Schneider. After a presentation and Q&A with MEP Schneider, we visited the Parliament’s grand ‘hemicycle’, where as luck would have it a string quartet was playing the European anthem, the Ode to Joy.
The day finished with an obligatory Belgian beer in the Parc de Bruxelles, followed by a group dinner in a traditional Belgian restaturant. With perfect timing, the EFTA Court gave its (opens in a new window)judgment in the Greenpeace Nordic v Norway (E-18/24) case the morning after our visit to Brussels. The outcome: the greenhouse gas emissions from end user burning of oil/gas must be assessed as part of the EIA for the extraction project (for any environmental law aficionados, the judgment is also interesting on Case C-72/12 Altrip – see from para 112!).
The Environmental Moot Court module is always a highlight of the MSc in Environmental and Climate Law programme at UCD, giving students the chance to develop their legal research, writing and advocacy skills. It’s also a great exercise in team-building, and a great cultural exchange for students and supervisors. Many thanks again to all the students involved for their hard work – also to colleagues and students from our partner universities in France, Germany and the Netherlands, and of course to our moot court judges!
If you would like any further information about the MSc in Environmental and Climate Law or about the Environmental Moot Court module, please contact Dr. Andrew Jackson: (opens in a new window)andrew.jackson@ucd.ie.
A selection of photos from this year’s trip and from the trips in 2024 and 2023:
20 May 2025: Meeting with DG Environment of the European Commission in ‘Breydel 2’.
20 May 2025: The European Parliament’s hemicycle in Brussels.
20 May 2025: Group photo at the European Parliament of students and supervisors from France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.
20 May 2025: Some of the Irish contingent at the European Parliament.
3 June 2024: The class of 2024 meeting with the European Commission. This room is where the College of Commissioners used to meet when the Berlaymont building was being renovated in the 1990s and early 2000s.
3 June 2024: A group photo of the class of 2024 in the European Commission’s Breydel building, Brussels.
7 June 2023: A group photo of the class of 2023 in the Parc Cinquantenaire, Brussels.