This book discusses and compares the relationship between trade and environmental-protection policies in the European Community and the United States. The central thesis of this book is that the various tensions that may arise between trade and environmental protection in federaltype systems can generally be solved through two complementary institutional means. First, using the free-trade provisions of the EC Treaty and the United States Constitution, the European Court of Justice and the US Supreme Court can place limits on the ability of states to enact legislation restricting trade (‘negative harmonization’). Second, the Community and US federal legislatures can set common environmental standards for all states (‘positive harmonization’). In this context, a central objective of this book is to discuss the respective contributions of the judiciary and the legislature to the solution of the tensions arising between trade and environmental policies, as well as to show the interactions existing between such policies. As argued in this book, such interactions shape the balance between trade and environmental objectives in the Community and the United States. More generally, they define the progress of environmental protection in these systems.

The most pleasant duty that falls when writing a preface is to recall the names of those who have acted as an inspiration and helped in the completion of the work. Two persons deserve particular mention. Professor James Crawford supervised my doctoral thesis on which this study is based and I have greatly benefited from his wise advice and suggestions.