The EU in violation of the access to justice provisions of the Aarhus Convention

The Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) has found that the European Union fails to comply with the Aarhus Convention because neither the Aarhus Regulation nor the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) provides adequate access to justice for the public. The ACCC identified that the 'Plaumann test' and strict 'individual concern' criteria effectively preclude NGOs and private individuals from challenging EU institutional decisions. Furthermore, the ACCC found that Regulation (EC) No. 1367/2006 (the Aarhus Regulation) is too narrow, as it limits internal review to 'administrative acts' of 'individual scope' rather than all acts and omissions that contravene environmental law. The ACCC recommends that the EU amend the Aarhus Regulation and that the ECJ interpret EU law to provide effective judicial remedies for members of the public.

• The Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) concluded in draft findings from June 2016 that the EU is in non-compliance with the Aarhus Convention because the Aarhus Regulation and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) do not implement the required obligations for access to justice.
• The ECJ's interpretation of access to EU courts, specifically the 'Plaumann test', is too restrictive to meet Convention requirements, resulting in almost no environmental organization's action being held admissible unless they were the direct addressee of an administrative decision regarding environmental information.
• The ACCC identified several further failures in the Aarhus Regulation: it only allows certain NGOs (rather than all 'members of the public') to request internal review, it only covers acts with legally binding and external effects, and it contains inconsistent exemptions for certain EU institutional measures.
• The ACCC recommends that the EU amend the Aarhus Regulation to align its terminology with the Convention and that the ECJ interpret EU law to ensure adequate and effective judicial remedies for the public to challenge acts contravening environmental law.

APA

ClientEarth (2016). The EU in violation of the access to justice provisions of the Aarhus Convention. https://www.clientearth.org/media/0epld2bg/aarhus-compliance-committee-finds-the-eu-in-violation-of-the-access-to-justice-provisions-of-the-aarhus-convention-ce-en.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. The EU in violation of the access to justice provisions of the Aarhus Convention. 2016. https://www.clientearth.org/media/0epld2bg/aarhus-compliance-committee-finds-the-eu-in-violation-of-the-access-to-justice-provisions-of-the-aarhus-convention-ce-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=The EU in violation of the access to justice provisions of the Aarhus Convention |date=October 2016 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/0epld2bg/aarhus-compliance-committee-finds-the-eu-in-violation-of-the-access-to-justice-provisions-of-the-aarhus-convention-ce-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2016violation, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{The EU in violation of the access to justice provisions of the Aarhus Convention}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2016}, month = oct, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/0epld2bg/aarhus-compliance-committee-finds-the-eu-in-violation-of-the-access-to-justice-provisions-of-the-aarhus-convention-ce-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }