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Since September 2002, the EC has been negotiating economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, including provisions on development, taking account of the economic, social, and environmental constraints of ACP countries.

The Cohesion Fund is intended to contribute to projects in the fields of environment and transport infrastructure.

Excise duty continues to apply to energy products (e.g. petrol and gasoline, electricity, natural gas, coal and coke).

The energy tax in the EC is regulated by Directive 2003/96/EC, in force since 1 January 2004. This Directive widened the scope of the EC's minimum rate system for energy products (previously limited to mineral oils), to all energy products including coal, natural gas, and electricity.

Import prohibitions and surveillance are maintained on, inter alia, sanitary, phytosanitary, and environmental grounds.

Genetically modified seed varieties (and other plant-propagating material) must be granted an authorization for cultivation only after a positive assessment by the EFSA, including the environmental risk assessment carried out by a competent national authority that no unacceptable risks to the environment or human health is likely to appear.

The EC has established traceability requirements for GM food and feed to facilitate the withdrawal of products in case of unforeseen adverse effects on human and animal health, or the environment, and to facilitate labelling of GMOs.

Under the new-approach directives, product regulations at the Community level are limited to the setting up of essential requirements defined to meet health, safety and environmental objectives.

In non-harmonized areas, goods lawfully produced in one country should be allowed to be marketed in any other Member State, even when the product does not fully comply with technical rules of the Member State of destination, except where the latter can show that departure from this principle is strictly necessary for the protection of, inter alia, public health or environment.

In August 2008, the European Commission adopted a General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER), which authorizes, inter alia, environmental protection aid.