European environmental policy, past and current challenges
To understand the ongoing environmental backlash, it is necessary to understand the history of European environmental policy.
- Date
- 23 February 2026, 13:00-16:00 (CET)
- Location
- House of European History, 135 Rue Belliard/straat, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
How did this policy domain come into being and what were its challenges and limits?
How did it change over time, and what does this tell us about today's challenges?
The Franco-German research team "ELEMENT" will first present its key findings on the history of European environmental policy from 1970-2000. This will be followed by Claire Nouvian, executive director of the non-governmental organisation BLOOM and one of the main actors in the current debates over the EU Green Deal, talking about her insights.
Registration is not required in advance - interested parties should make their way to the museum auditorium.
Banner image: from House of European History temporary exhibition "Throwaway - the history of a modern crisis" (18 February 2023 - 14 January 2024).
Programme
- 13:15-13:25
- Welcome by Constanze Itzel, museum director, House of European History.
- 13:25-13:40
- Introduction by Kiran Klaus Patel and Laurent Warlouzet on the ELEMENT programme and the history of European environmental policies.
- 13:40-14:20
- Presentation by each PhD student about their research: Emiel Geurts on agriculture, Fabienne Jouty on climate change, Alexandre Lauverjat on air pollution, Frieda Ottman on water pollution.
- 14:20-14:50
- Claire Nouvian reacts to the presentation and gives a speech on the current situation of EU environmental policy.
- 14:50-15:30
- Open debate.
- 15:30-16:00
- Cocktail on-site.
Biographies
Claire Nouvian
Claire Nouvian, founder and executive director of the non-governmental organisation BLOOM, is a leading figure in ocean conservation. For more than twenty years, she has dedicated her life to revealing the fragility of marine ecosystems and combating the destructive practices of industrial fishing.
Kiran Klaus Patel
Kiran Klaus Patel holds the chair of modern history at LMU Munich and is one of the two co-directors of the ELEMENT project. He is also the director of his university's Project House Europe. He has published among other books "Project Europe: A History" (2020) and "A Concise History of the European Union" (2026).
Laurent Warlouzet
Laurent Warlouzet is professor of History at Paris Sorbonne University and is one of the two co-directors of the ELEMENT project. He has published "Europe contre Europe. Entre liberté, solidarité et puissance" (2022), translated as "Liberty, Solidarity and Community. Capitalism and European Integration, 1945 to the Present" (2026).
Fabienne Jouty
Fabienne Jouty is a PhD candidate in the ELEMENT project at Paris Sorbonne University and works on the EC/EU policies against climate change
Emiel Geurts
Emiel Geurts is a PhD candidate in the ELEMENT project at LMU Munich and works on the history of the efforts to green the EC/EU's Common Agricultural Policy.
Alexandre Lauverjat
Alexandre Lauverjat is a PhD candidate in the ELEMENT project at Paris Sorbonne University and works on the EC/EU policies against air pollution.
Frieda Ottmann
Frieda Ottmann is a PhD candidate in the ELEMENT project at LMU Munich and works on the history on the EC/EU's efforts to reduce water pollution.