As offshore wind energy projects are highly complex, costly, and long-term by nature, numerous types of legal issues may arise during their planning, tender, construction, and operation phases. Examples of some of these legal issues have already arisen, while examples of others have not yet occurred as of the time of writing, since these projects -or at least certain parts therein- are fairly new. Floating offshore wind (FOW) as an emerging and innovative technology has a significant potential to contribute to global decarbonization strategies. However, the legal frameworks are often not adjusted to this technological development. 

The successful deployment and scaling of FOW depends on navigating a complex landscape of interrelated legal and regulatory challenges. As these projects are located in marine environments that are often ecologically sensitive, it is essential that legal frameworks governing FOW include robust environmental safeguards. Despite this need, current regulatory regimes frequently fall short in effectively integrating environmental considerations into the FOW project life cycle. In other words, the development of a comprehensive legal framework must ensure that environmental protection is embedded across all phases of FOW development. This research will focus on the life cycle of FOW from the planning and development to operationalization and finally the decommissioning phase of a FOW project and will look at it from the environmental protection perspective.  

Moreover, according to EU Sustainable Development Strategy, a multi-faceted regulatory project with a long- term perspective, 1 and Art. 11 of the TFEU2 , environmental integration as a principle should be taken into consideration in the design of all policies and activities and be incorporated in the content of the respective legislative instruments or decisions in the various fields of EU policy. 3 It sets a positive obligation for the EU institutions to incorporate environmental considerations into other sectoral policies.4 That also includes the development of (floating) offshore wind energy policies that need to take into account environmental consideration when developing.  

The four themes that will be analyzed in my research will be examined from the environmental protection perspective and are the following: