The Aarhus Convention lays down a set of basic rules to promote citizens' involvement in environmental matters and improve enforcement of environmental law. It grants the public access to environmental information, provides for participation in environmental decision-making, and allows the public to seek redress when environmental law is infringed, including breaches of the two previous rights.
Stavros Dimas, Commissioner for the Environment, said: “Today’s agreements mark a milestone for greater citizen’s involvement in environmental matters. They demonstrate that the EU stands firm in its commitment to apply the principles and rules of the Aarhus Convention in its own environmental decision-making. I am particularly happy about the improved public access to information about environmental matters – and area of concern to all of us”.
The EU committed itself to transposing the Aarhus Convention into EU law by signing the Convention in 1998. Two Directives concerning access to environmental information[1] and public participation in environmental decision-making[2] in EU Member States were adopted in 2003. These built upon existing directives covering these areas. A third Directive, on access to justice in environmental matters, was proposed by the Commission in October 2003 and is still under discussion within the Council. Commissioner Dimas expressed the hope that work will continue under the Luxembourg Presidency.
The two Directives already adopted, together with other legislation covering specific sectors, provide for an EU-wide harmonised framework for public access to environmental information and public participation in environmental decision-making. Member States are required to introduce the provisions of these two Directives into their national legal systems by February and June 2005 respectively.
The proposed Regulation to apply the Aarhus Convention to Community institutions and bodies builds upon a 2001 Regulation on access to documents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, but extends it to all EU institutions and bodies and complements it in several respects.
Under the new Regulation, any applicant will be entitled to obtain environmental information upon request, subject to limited and well-defined exceptions. Environmental information held by Community institutions is to be made accessible to the public, in particular through electronic databases. In addition, all EU institutions and bodies will have to provide early and effective opportunities for public participation when they prepare plans and programmes relating to the environment. Lastly, the agreement provides the possibility for environmental non-governmental organisations that meet a number of criteria to ask the EU institutions and bodies to reconsider administrative acts taken under environmental law. The institution in question is obliged to deal with any such request and to issue a written reply to the NGO.
[1] Directive 2003/4/EC
[2] Directive 2003/35/EC
