Layman’s Report for the EARL project Education and Awareness Raising of Legal Professionals on Access to Justice

The LIFE-A2J-EARL project focused on reducing the 'implementation deficit' of EU environmental law, which is estimated to cost approximately €50 billion annually. To address this, the project provided training, legal toolkits, and a comprehensive guide on access to justice to judiciary members, public authorities, and NGOs across nine EU countries. Key outputs included the development of national toolkits for eight countries and a 'Guide on Access to Justice in European Union Law'. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the project exceeded its training targets, reaching 2,090 participants through workshops, training sessions, and webinars, and attracting 285 attendees to a virtual international conference. The project's digital outreach included 163 website articles and a newsletter with over 700 subscribers. Socio-economic impacts identified include increased knowledge of the Aarhus Convention, enhanced cooperation between stakeholders, and the empowerment of NGOs to challenge decisions breaching environmental legislation.

• The poor implementation of EU environmental law is described as both an environmental and socio-economic issue, with an estimated annual cost of €50 billion.
• The project developed national toolkits on access to justice for eight EU Member States: Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Spain, reaching 1,117 stakeholders by the project's end.
• A 'Guide on Access to Justice in European Union Law' was created in English and Polish to provide a comprehensive overview of EU legislation, CJEU case-law, and Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee findings; it was downloaded by 1,759 stakeholders.
• The project exceeded its capacity-building targets, with 2,090 people attending training events (including 169 at national workshops, 1,257 in training sessions, and 664 in webinars) and 1,635 people watching webinar recordings.
• The COVID-19 pandemic forced the project to shift to digital formats, resulting in a virtual international conference with 285 participants, nearly three times the original planned attendance for a physical event in Brussels.
• Digital dissemination efforts included the publication of 163 articles on the project website, generating 10,681 page views, and the growth of a newsletter to over 700 subscribers.
• The project's socio-economic impacts included increased knowledge of the Aarhus Convention, improved dialogue among target groups, and instances where stakeholders were encouraged to use courts to challenge decisions that violate environmental law.

APA

ClientEarth (n.d.). Layman’s Report for the EARL project Education and Awareness Raising of Legal Professionals on Access to Justice. https://www.clientearth.org/media/okmf4kue/earl-layman_report.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Layman’s Report for the EARL project Education and Awareness Raising of Legal Professionals on Access to Justice. n.d. https://www.clientearth.org/media/okmf4kue/earl-layman_report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=Layman’s Report for the EARL project Education and Awareness Raising of Legal Professionals on Access to Justice |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/okmf4kue/earl-layman_report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearthndlaymans, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Layman’s Report for the EARL project Education and Awareness Raising of Legal Professionals on Access to Justice}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/okmf4kue/earl-layman_report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }