Environmental policy in all of its dimensions represents the response to the clearest and most urgent existential threat to the well-being of the planet and all of the species inhabiting it. The European Union (EU), as both a leading historical and current contributor to this global threat as well as arguably the most consistent global political leader in the last 3 decades for the environmental response, demands scrutiny and understanding of its processes and outlook.

This handbook provides a vital contribution in both introducing and giving critically important and cutting-edge analysis of these two key elements of modern global politics. Authored by a diverse group of distinguished scholars in the field, chapters in this handbook isolate the key dynamics that drive environmental policymaking. They focus on the political behavior and interaction of a diverse set of policy actors, while also reflecting on and framing the potential directions of analytical, conceptual and empirical innovation in EU Environmental Policy research.