Five things the EU does for the Environment

Single-use plastic

Having helped to drive disposable bags from supermarkets, the EU has taken on the drinking straws, earbuds, and plastic cutlery cluttering the world's oceans.

Cleaner air

As a signatory to the Paris Agreement on behalf of the 28 member states, the EU has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030.

Cleaner cars

The Dieselgate scandal—where German car giant Volkswagen admitted to fitting 11 million vehicles worldwide with a device aimed at cheating pollution tests—showed the EU that its legislation on engine emissions, in this case, nitrogen oxide from diesel engines, could be circumvented.

Bee protection

One of the recent major successes for green activists has been Europe's banning of three neonicotinoids in pesticides considered dangerous for bees.

Save the trees

The European Union went to the European Court of Justice to condemn member state Poland, in April 2018, for felling trees in the ancient Bialowieza forest.