Post-Brexit, the legal status of EU environmental law within the UK will depend on the nature of the final agreement negotiated. Norway, for example, as part of the European Economic Area, has access to the EU single market. Though not covered by EU agriculture and fisheries law, it is bound by all EU environmental legislation, with the exception of those covering habitats and birds. There is a special European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Court which must follow the principles of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), but national courts are not obliged to refer cases to it in the way that the highest courts are meant to refer issues of doubt to the CJEU. There is an EFTA Surveillance Authority with equivalent powers to the European Commission to bring enforcement actions against EFTA members, but the EFTA Court has as yet no equivalent powers to the CJEU to impose financial penalties on member states who do not comply with its judgments.
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