Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

EU environmental policy could face NGO lawsuits

The European Union has been told to ensure that NGOs can challenge its environmental policy in court, something EU institutions have so far failed to do.

It is unclear if the EU executive will follow up on the recommendation, however.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • EU court in Luxembourg should hear NGO suits, the UN-linked panel said (Photo: katarina_dzurekova)

Last Friday (17 March), the Aarhus Compliance Committee said the EU was not living up to its obligation to allow the public effective access to justice in environmental matters.

The Aarhus convention is a UN text that sets out principles for the rule of law in environmental legislation. The EU ratified it in 2005.

"This means the EU promised to provide information about environmental decisions, and allow citizens and green groups to participate in such decision-making,” Jonas Ebbesson, a professor of law at Stockholm University who chairs the Aarhus committee, said.

“The EU has also obliged itself to provide the possibility for the public to complain before court about EU decisions, or the failure to act on environmental matters," he added.

The Aarhus compliance committee is an independent body of legal experts who investigate complains from individuals in signatory states.

EU legislation implementing the convention limits the type of acts which may be challenged before the courts to measures of “individual scope”, whereas most of the decisions that NGOs seek to challenge are of “general scope”.

"We investigated and found the EU doesn't compensate for the lack of legal standing before the court with alternative mechanisms," the Swedish professor told this website. "This limits the rights of EU citizens."

Friday's recommendations were a response to a complaint filed by ClientEarth, a green pressure group, in 2008.

The NGO said in a written statement that barring it from court was "stark proof of the EU’s persistent democratic deficit".

ClientEarth's Robyn Meadwell told this website his organisation would, for instance, like to challenge last week's decision by the European Chemical Agency not to classify glyphosate as being carcinogenic.

He said it would also like to challenge EU fisheries quotas.

These are set by ministers behind closed doors in the EU Council.

NGOs have claimed for years that they exceed scientifically advised levels.

ClientEarth would also like to test in court commission decisions that allowed EU countries to exceed air pollution limits, kill protected species of animals, and give state aid for nuclear or coal plants.

It remains unsure what the commission will do in reaction to the committee's recommendations.

A spokesman on Monday said that the institution had yet to assess the recommendations.

"But we are sure we have been acting on sound legal basis," the spokesman, Enrico Brivio, said.

The Aarhus committee’s Ebbesson said he would be in Brussels on Wednesday to explain the recommendation to member state representatives in the Council.

In September, countries that have signed up to the Aarhus Convention - including the EU - will meet and discuss the findings of the committee.

"If the EU was to disagree here, not only would it be the first time this has ever happened, but it would send a dangerous signal to its citizens, to the member states and to the rest of the world that the EU has a highly selective approach when it comes to the rule of law," ClientEarth said.

EU declines to renew glyphosate licence

Member states did not agree on conditions to renew the permit for the chemical used in pesticides, amid contradictory evidence on a possible cancer link.

EU Council is 'black hole' in public trust

The EU Council, its most powerful institution, is a “black hole” unto the general public, hampering efforts to regain trust, a leading NGO has said.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us