Interfakultäre Koordinationsstelle für Allgemeine Ökologie (IKAÖ) |
Forschung
Legal scope of local communities in the domain of environment-related taxes and charges
Ueli Friederich, Dr. iur, Fürsprecher
Peter M. Keller, Dr. iur, Fürsprecher
Jürg Wichtermann, Fürsprecher
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"We hope to be able to show that local communities can do more for a sustainable development than is generally assumed." Ueli Friederich |
Goals
Taking the example of environment-related taxes and charges, we intend to examine how local communities can promote sustainable behaviour. We are interested in the respective legal scope according to the superior law in force as well as in the question of what could be improved in the future.
Questions
In the framework of our project, we intend to elaborate answers to the following questions:
- How and in which policy domains can local communities create (additional) incentives for a sustainable behaviour?
- Do hindering prescriptions and regulations exist on the federal or the cantonal level? Are there changes to be proposed in view of new legislation projects?
These questions shall be answered especially for policy domains dealt with in other sub-projects in the framework of the Integrated Project "Strategies and Instruments" such as water supply/waste water cleaning, engergy supply (especially electricity) and private traffic.
Methods
In a first analytical part we shall point out the legal prescriptions in force both on the federal and - in the sense of a short overview - on the cantonal level. We will illustrate the system of public taxes and charges in general and the current principles relating to their establishment as well als the legal meaning and implications of the "Verursacherprinzip" in environmental law. We are especially interested to find out if and to which extent local communities may collect charges to cover the so called external costs and taxes or charges in order to influence privat behaviour.
In a second prospective part we intend to formulate recommendations for an efficient extension of the scope of local communities and to discuss these suggestions with practice-oriented experts in the respective fields. We will have to take into account possible negative economical or political impacts for the local community such as overcharge, especially of address administrations and financial risks.
Ueli Friederich
Advokaturbüro Arn + Friederich
Peter M. Keller
Advokaturbüro Keller
Jürg Wichtermann
