Author(s): Dmytro V Sannikov
One of the ways to prevent legal defects in land and legal regulation in Ukraine at present and in the future is to ensure the adaptation of the national land legislation to the requirements of the European Union. The implementation of the course on Ukraine's European integration is an integral part of domestic reforms aimed at economic growth, improving the living standards of the people, developing democracy, building a civil society, guaranteeing the rule of law, freedom of speech, protecting human rights and freedoms and strengthening national security. Deepening cooperation with the European Union is an important element in strengthening stability and security in the European continent, stimulating domestic economic and political reforms, promoting public progress and developing a socially oriented economy of Ukraine. The signing and ratification by the Parliament of Ukraine in 2014 of the Association Agreement between Ukraine, on one hand, and the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community and their member states, on the other, and the need to adapt national legislation to EU requirements in the legal regulation of the use and protection of lands as the main national wealth, determine the urgency of the chosen research topic. Comparative analysis of domestic and foreign regulatory control of issues of environmental responsibility and compensation for land damage as a result of economic and other activities allows us to point out the need to take into account a number of the directives’ provisions, which will help build a European model of financial responsibility for land offenses in Ukraine. Taking into account the European experience in resolving issues related to environmental damage, it should be noted that for all positive aspects, the institution of environmental responsibility and its effectiveness depend on the level of development of the financial guarantees mechanism. Until 2010 the Directive provided for the development of mandatory financial guarantees’ system in case of harm to the natural environment. While insurance is considered as the most accessible and universal form of financial guarantees. Therefore, for Ukraine, in addition to improving the institution of financial responsibility, it is necessary to pay special attention to the formation of a real system, ensuring its implementation, one of the ways of which is environmental insurance. Therefore, it is necessary to establish the legal basis for its regulation by adopting the Law of Ukraine "On Environmental Insurance". Particular attention should be paid to the harmonization of methods for assessing environmental damage that must provide an adequate real damage assessment. Methods for assessing damage caused to land resources operating in Ukraine, in general, comply with modern procedures, enshrined in European legislation. The calculation method used to determine the extent of harm meets the requirements of a market economy and makes it possible to display the real size of the damage caused. However, the specified methodologies do not establish a mechanism for compensation for harm caused by pollution of the life and health of people. The expediency of such a settlement is important for the legal norms of a protective nature, considering that the Directive of the European Parliament and Council of Europe 2004/35/CE regulates the issues of compensation for harm caused to lands, in particular soil and through their properties – to life and health of people and also to ecological interests.