The EC's noise policy is primarily aimed at enhancing the free movement of goods. Noise pollution is tackled by combating pollution at source. Technical harmonisation is the most wickly used route. The Fifth Environmental Action Programme sets out an ambitious EC noise policy, completing the internal market objectives with a true environmental aim. The 1996 Commission Green Paper on Future Noise Policy sets out concrete measures which are to be realised in the near future. The ambition to implement a full-scale noise policy might have to be rethought in the light of the principle of subsidiarity.
European Energy and Environmental Law Review