Environmental activists' access to EU Court by breaking the law

The commentary analyzes Case C-616/17, where the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the EU Pesticides Regulation did not commit a manifest error of assessment regarding the precautionary principle. While the court clarified that competent authorities must conduct independent and transparent health risk assessments, the author argues that the case illustrates a systemic failure in EU law: environmental NGOs and individuals often cannot challenge EU measures directly under Article 263 TFEU and may only gain access to the CJEU by infringing laws to trigger national criminal or civil proceedings.

• The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the EU legislature did not commit a manifest error of assessment in adopting the Pesticides Regulation, despite challenges based on the precautionary principle.
• The CJEU clarified that the precautionary principle in the context of the Pesticides Regulation requires the identification of potential negative health consequences and a comprehensive risk assessment based on the most reliable scientific data and recent international research.
• The court established that competent authorities are required to perform assessments of applications for the authorisation of plant protection products that are independent, objective, and transparent, utilizing current scientific and technical knowledge.
• There is a significant barrier to justice for environmental organisations and individuals under Article 263 TFEU, as they often cannot challenge EU measures directly and may only access the CJEU via preliminary references triggered by breaching the law in national courts.

APA

Friel, A. (2019). Environmental activists' access to EU Court by breaking the law. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/projects/access-to-justice-for-a-greener-europe/updates-annual-newsletters/environmental-activists-access-eu-court-by-breaking-the-law/

Chicago

Friel, Anne. Environmental activists' access to EU Court by breaking the law. ClientEarth, 2019. https://www.clientearth.org/projects/access-to-justice-for-a-greener-europe/updates-annual-newsletters/environmental-activists-access-eu-court-by-breaking-the-law/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Friel |first1=Anne |title=Environmental activists' access to EU Court by breaking the law |publisher=ClientEarth |date=25 November 2019 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/projects/access-to-justice-for-a-greener-europe/updates-annual-newsletters/environmental-activists-access-eu-court-by-breaking-the-law/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friel2019environmental, author = {Friel, Anne}, title = {{Environmental activists' access to EU Court by breaking the law}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2019}, month = nov, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/projects/access-to-justice-for-a-greener-europe/updates-annual-newsletters/environmental-activists-access-eu-court-by-breaking-the-law/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }