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Transnational Access to Environmental Information

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2012

Ludwig Krämer
Ludwig Krämer*
Affiliation:
University College London (United Kingdom); Derecho y Medio Ambiente, Madrid (Spain); EU Aarhus Centre of ClientEarth, Brussels (Belgium). Email: kramer.ludwig@skynet.be.
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Abstract

This paper traces back the efforts, in particular in Europe, to promote transnational legal provisions which grant a right of access to environmental information. Initiatives in the 1970s failed to establish a fundamental right to a clean environment. However, the establishment of fundamental procedural rights of access to information, participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters has been more successful – culminating in the 1998 Aarhus Convention. This paper describes the – until now unsuccessful – attempts to extend the territorial scope of application of the Aarhus Convention to non-European countries and regions, and ultimately the conclusion of a global convention on access to environmental information.

Keywords

Aarhus ConventionFundamental Right of Access to InformationGlobal Convention
Type
Invited Article
Information
Transnational Environmental Law , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , April 2012 , pp. 95 - 104
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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References

1 5 USC 552.

2 This contribution will not discuss the legislation on access to information in the different states of the US, some of which dates back to the 19th century.

3 The Swedish Freedom of the Press Act dates from 1776 and is considered to be the world’s oldest legislation on freedom of access to information. The national legislation of EU Member States or non-EU European states will not be discussed in any detail in this contribution.

4 For more details, see: http://www.coe.int.

5 Directive 85/337/EEC on the Assessment of the Effects of Certain Public and Private Projects on the Environment [1985] OJ L 175/40.

6 Directive 90/313/EEC on the Freedom of Access to Information on the Environment [1990] OJ L 156/58. In 2003, this Directive was replaced by Directive 2003/4/EC on Public Access to Environmental Information [2003] OJ L 41/26.

7 See Art. 255 of the EC Treaty of 1997, which is now, after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaties in Dec. 2009, Art. 15 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The implementing provisions on access to information are laid down in Regulation (EC) No. 1049/2001 regarding Public Access to European Parliament, Council and Commission Documents [2001] OJ L 145/43, as well as Regulation (EC) No. 1367/2006 on the Application of the Provisions of the Aarhus Convention to Community Institutions and Bodies [2006] OJ L 264/13.

8 Principle 10, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, adopted by the UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), 3–14 June 1992.

9 Aarhus (Denmark), 25 June 1998, in force 30 Oct. 2001, available at: http://www.unece.org/env/pp/welcome.html.

10 See the statement made by the US at the first Meeting of the Parties, Lucca (Italy), 21–23 Oct. 2002, available at: http://live.unece.org/env/pp/mop1docum.statements.html: ‘Although we are supportive of the issues, we continue to have grave reservations with many of the provisions and direction of this Convention. These include concerns over granting special participation privileges to only one segment of civil society. We are also especially concerned about the direction the Convention is going in the areas of GMOs and Compliance.’

11 Further details are available at: http://www.unep.org/law/About_prog/montevideo_prog.asp.

12 General Council of UNEP, Decision SS.XI/5, Part A, of 26 Feb. 2010: Guidelines for the Development of National Legislation on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters.

13 Available at: http://www.unep.org/dec/docs/UNEP_Manual.pdf.

14 See UNECE, ECE/MP.PP/2002/17 of 25 Oct. 2002; ECE /MP.PP/2005/17 of 4 Apr. 2005; ECE/MP.PP/2008/8 of 23 May 2008. A report to the fourth meeting of the Parties (Chisinau, Moldavia, 2011) was not submitted.

15 See UNECE Decision IV/5 on Access to the Convention by non-UNECE Member States, ECE/MP.PP/2011/CRP3, of 1 July 2011.

16 Details available at: http://live.unece.org/env/pp/international.html.

17 Aarhus Convention, Recital 17 (emphasis added).

18 For details on the Compliance Committee, see: http://live.unece.org/env/pp/cc.html.

19 See Art. 251 and further TFEU.

20 Guideline 41j, n. 13 above.

21 US, Canada and Mexico. NAFTA signed at San Antonio, TX (US), 17 Dec. 1992, in force 1 Jan. 1994, available at: http://www.nafta-sec-alena.org.

22 Details available at: http://www.mercosur.int.