Capacity building workshop on environment and health

Public participation and the right to know:Aarhus Convention and PRTR Protocol

Monica Guarinoni

Sofia, 1-2 December 2005

Objective

¨contribute to the protection of the right of every person of present and future generations to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being¨ by guaranteeing the right of access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice.

Aarhus ConventionAccess to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making

and Access to Justice regarding Environmental Matters

Aarhus Convention

Geographical scope

Yellow: countries that have ratified (+EC, UK, Sweden, Austria, Netherlands, Spain)

Blue: countries that have signed but not ratified yet

Aarhus Convention

The three pillars

Access to Information(active or passive)

= the ¨Right to Know¨

Public Participation

Access to justice

in decisions on specific projects or activities

concerning plans, programmes and

policies

In preparation of executive

regulations and/or legally

binding instruments with an

impact on the environment

First pillar:

Access to information

Passive: obligation on public authorities to respond to public requests for information.Exempt categories (e.g. national defence, international relations, public security, the course of justice, commercial confidentiality, intellectual property rights, personal privacy etc.)

Active: obligation on public authorities to provide environmental information pro activelye.g. through dissemination of plans, policy documents, reports, etc., and PRTRs

Public authorities: governmental bodies from all sectors and at all levels (national, regional, local, etc.), and bodies performing public administrative functions.

Second pillar:Public participation

in environmental decision-making

Public authorities shall involve the public in an environmental decision-making procedure on:

•Specific projects or activities

•Plans, programmes and policies

•Regulations and/or legally binding normative instruments

Public concerned: 'the public affected or likely to be affected by, or having an interest in the environmental decision-making', and explicitly includes NGOs promoting environmental protection

Third pillarAccess to justice in environmental matters

•Access to information appeals

•Public participation appeals

•General violations of environmental law

Aarhus Convention Second Meeting of the Parties (25-27 May 2005)

Main issues at stake for NGOs:

1) Inclusion of GMO-related decision-making in the Convention

2) Adoption of Guidelines on Public Participation in International Forums (Almaty Guidelines)

Task Force on Public Participation in International Forums

3) Access to justiceTask Force on Access to Justice

4) First implementation reports by Parties including the experience with NGOs and other stakeholders

http://www.unece.org/env/pp/reports%20implementation.ngo.htm

The right to know about sources of pollution:

Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers

The objective of the Protocol is to enhance public access to information through the establishment of coherent, nationwide pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTRs).

www.eper.cec.eu.int

www.eper.cec.eu.int

www.eper.cec.eu.int

www.eper.cec.eu.int

www.eper.cec.eu.int

www.eper.cec.eu.int

Aarhus Convention in the EU

(ratified in February 2005)

According to Article 175 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, the European Community is competent for entering into international agreements which contribute to the pursuit of the following objectives:

•preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment; •protecting human health;•prudent and rational utilisation of natural resources;•promoting measures at international level to deal with regional or world-wide environmental problems.

Aarhus Convention in the EU

Legislation Access to inf ormation Public Participation Access to Justice

1-Directed to Member States

Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to environmental information. Status: Entered into force in Member States on 14 February 2005

Directive 2003/35/EC providing for public participation in respect of the dr awing up of certain plans and programmes relating to the environment. Status: Final date for implementation in Member States 25 June 2005

Proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of t he Council on access to justice in environmental matters (presented by the Commission) - Status: ongoing

2- Directed to EU Institutions

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the application of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention on Access to I nformation, Public Participation in Decision -making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters to EC institutions and bodie s (presented by the Commission) Status: ongoing

Regulation on the application of Aarhus provisions to EU institutions

(I)

Co-decision procedure:

• Proposal by the European Commission (2003)

• First reading by the European Parliament (March 2004) and Council (July-August 2005)

• Second reading by the European Parliament -- just started with debate in the ENVI Committee

Regulation on the application of Aarhus provisions to EU institutions

(II)

• Environmental and health NGOs (Green 10) letter and voting recommendations to MEPs in the ENVI Committee

• CEFIC (Chemical Industry Federation) letter and voting recommendations

• Green 10 press release after the vote

• Next steps:- Vote of the EP in plenary- Second reading by the Council- If no agreement -- Conciliation Committee (Third reading)

Chemistry making a world of difference

European Chemical Industry Council Avenue E. van Nieuwenhuyse 4 B - 1160 Brussels Belgium Tel: +32 2 676 72 11 Fax: +32 2 676 73 01 mail@cefic.be www.cefic.org

To the Members of the EP Environment Committee

18 November 2005

Aarhus-Regulation Second Reading – Vote on 22 November in the ENVI Committee Dear Member of the European Parliament, Your Committee will vote next Tuesday morning on MEP Korhola’s Draft Recommendation for second reading on the Council common position regarding the draft regulation for adopting the Aarhus Convention with regard to the EU institutions. The Aarhus-Regulation aims to encourage access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters. The crucial point is to find the right balance between a desirable enhanced involvement of the public in environmental matters on the one hand and the legitimate interest of the legislator to take decisions autonomously and flexibly. A too bureaucratic system will endanger the benefits which the Aarhus Convention is supposed to deliver to the environment. We believe that the Council common position has found this balance. MEP Korhola’s resolution improves this common position further whereas the majority of amendments introduced by other MEP’s aim to weaken the achieved result by re-tabling too far-reaching possibilities for access to information and justice. We support all the amendments from your rapporteur since they align the right of the public to access to information and to justice to what is foreseen under the Aarhus Convention (particularly amendments 3, 8, 13, 14, 15). Europe should achieve but not over-achieve! We do not support the other amendments since they aim to create a system of permanent derogation from the EC Treaty which cannot be justified. The Treaty treats all European citizens and organizations alike and has developed a balanced and fine-tuned system of access to proceedings before the European Court of Justice. Changes of this system can only be introduced by amending the EC Treaty directly – and not via the backdoor of secondary legislation. Allowing a broad access to justice means to overstretch the limits of the Aarhus Convention and of the EC Treaty. We therefore particularly oppose amendments 39, 45, 46, 47. I hope that you can support our views and vote for a balanced implementation of the Aarhus Regulation. In the interest of a workable and proportionate legislation, we ask you to support your rapporteur. Please find our proposed voting list attached. Thank you in advance, Yours sincerely, Alain Perroy (original signed, sent electronically)

Director General

Next opportunities for input:How to get involved

•Winter-Spring 2006: Consultation on Guidelines on Public Participation in International Forums (PoC)

•16-17 February 2006: Task Force on Access to Justice

•17-19 May 2006: Working Group on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers

• Workshop “Civic Successes and Challenges in the Implementation of the Aarhus Convention” in partnership with CEPL

•Publication “What We Can Do: Civic Implementation of the Aarhus Convention” in partnership with CEPL

Thank you for your attention!

Monica GuarinoniEPHA Environment Network (EEN)Rue d’Arlon 39-411000 Brussels (Belgium)Tel: 0032 2 233 3875Fax: 0032 2 233 3880Email: monica@env-health.org

Website: www.env-health.org