In a case brought by the European Commission against Ireland involving road construction, the European Court of Justice has rule that Ireland has infringed on its obligations under two separate EC Directives providing for public participation in environmental decision-making.
The Court’s Second Chamber found that Ireland had failed to adopt the provisions necessary to comply with Articles 3 and 4 of Directive 2003/35/EC, a key instrument transposing the public participation provisions of the Aarhus Convention. The EC Directive provides for public participation in respect of the drawing up of certain plans and programmes.
A related EC Directive requires measures to ensure that, before consent is given, projects likely to have significant effects on the environment in the road construction category are made subject to a requirement for development consent and to an assessment with regard to their effects.
The Court found Ireland in breach of the 1985 Council Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of projects on the environment.
[Source: Official Journal of the European Union, 12 September 2009]
