LibrelloChallenges in Sustainability2297-64775120170320You Can't Eat Biodiversity: Agency and Irrational Norms in European Aquatic Environmental Law435110.12924/cis2017.05010043ENTimG.O'HigginsMarine Governace Group, MaREI, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. tim.ohiggins@ucc.iecis-5.1.432016031520161014Policies of the European Union cover a range of social, environmental and economic aspirations and the current environmental directives and laws have evolved from a suite of norms which have changed over time. These may be characterised loosely according to 'Three Ps': Practical, those taking an anthropocentric approach; Pure, those taking an ecocentric approach and Popular, those appealing to the general public. In this paper I use these three perspectives as a tool to analyse the complexity and identify contradictions in European aquatic environmental legislation. Some trade-offs between development and conservation are identified and used to characterise the potential qualities of more successful agency to achieve environmental goals in the governance of European aquatic environments.