The Member States 25 March 1957, Consolidated version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union#PART THREE - UNION POLICIES AND INTERNAL ACTIONS#TITLE XX - ENVIRONMENT#Article 192(ex Article 175 TEC)

3. In preparing its policy on the environment, the Union shall take account of: — available scientific and technical data, — environmental conditions in the various regions of the Union, — the potential benefits and costs of action or lack of action, — the economic and social development of the Union as a whole and the balanced development of its regions. 4.