AMBIENTE E INIZIATIVA ECONOMICA PRIVATA NEL GOVERNO DELLA TRANSIZIONE VERDE. PRINCIPI E VALORI COSTITUZIONALI IN CHIAVE COMPARATA

The doctoral thesis explores the constitutional relationship between environmental protection and private economic initiative. The research adopts a comparative perspective, focusing on the Italian and French legal systems, while also taking into account the broader framework of European Union law. The primary aim is to examine how constitutional principles and values can inform the governance of the green transition, ensuring a sustainable balance between economic development and environmental safeguarding. The dissertation is structured into two main sections. Section I investigates the constitutional foundations of the environment - enterprise nexus in Italy and France. In the Italian context, Constitutional Law No. 1/2022, which amended Articles 9 and 41 of the Constitution, represents a pivotal moment in redefining the legal equilibrium between ecological concerns and economic freedoms. This reform provides an opportunity to reflect more deeply on the implications of the newly enshrined constitutional protection of the environment, particularly in relation to Article 41. The analysis includes an in-depth examination of the Italian Constitutional Court’s case law - both before and after the reform - with a focus on the balancing techniques employed in key decisions that highlight the normative tensions between environmental protection, health, labor, and enterprise. In the French system, the analysis centers on the constitutional principle of liberté d’entreprendre and the 2005 Environmental Charter (Charte de l’Environnement), assessing how these principles interact, also through the lens of the Conseil Constitutionnel’s jurisprudence. Further attention is given to the 2021 proposal for constitutional reform aimed at strengthening environmental protection. Although ultimately unsuccessful, this initiative reflects an increasing constitutional awareness of the need to reconcile ecological imperatives with economic development - an evolution mirrored in positive law through the growing integration of corporate social responsibility within the legal framework. Section II shifts focus to the governance of the green transition, offering a dual perspective: on one hand, the interaction between national and European sources of law within the paradigm of the “responsible enterprise”; on the other, the evolving balance of powers in response to judicial involvement in environmental and climate-related decision-making. On the legislative front, the European Green Deal and Next Generation EU mark a transformative moment for EU law. These far-reaching regulatory frameworks extend beyond environmental concerns, demanding structural renewal of the European legal order. Italy’s and France’s Recovery and Resilience Plans illustrate how “green conditionality” has shaped national policy choices at the intersection of enterprise and environmental sustainability. In the same vein, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) underscore a shift toward binding obligations for corporate actors. The final part of the thesis addresses the role of institutional powers in governing the green transition. Particular attention is given to the increasingly proactive role of national and supranational courts in the field of climate law, which has become a testing ground for reconfiguring the boundaries between political discretion and judicial review. Through an analysis of public and private enforcement models emerging in climate change litigation - targeting both States and corporations - this section aims to assess how judicial intervention is reshaping the constitutional order and to identify viable pathways for steering the ecological transition in line with democratic principles and constitutional governance.