Access to Justice: Addressing the EU’s non-compliance with the Aarhus Convention

The document is an open letter from ClientEarth and several environmental NGOs to the First Vice-President of the European Commission. It highlights a March 17, 2017, finding by the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) that the EU failed to provide adequate access to justice for individuals and NGOs in environmental matters, specifically breaching Article 9(3)(4) of the Aarhus Convention. The authors argue that while Member States and businesses can defend their interests, no individual or NGO has been granted legal standing before the Court of Justice of the EU to challenge institutional decisions on environmental issues, except for document disclosure refusals. To remedy this, the letter proposes that the European Commission amend Regulation 1367/2006 and that the European Court of Justice revise its interpretation of standing criteria under Article 263 TFEU to ensure environmental NGOs are considered to have "direct and individual concern" regarding acts impacting the environment.

• On 17 March 2017, the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) determined that the EU is in breach of Article 9(3)(4) of the Aarhus Convention because it has failed to provide individuals and NGOs with adequate access to justice regarding environmental matters.
• Currently, legal standing before the Court of Justice of the EU to challenge decisions by EU institutions, agencies, or bodies is not granted to any individual or NGO, with the sole exception of cases involving refusals to disclose documents.

APA

Thornton, J. (2017). Access to Justice: Addressing the EU’s non-compliance with the Aarhus Convention. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/media/ewkfpgm4/open-letter-to-vp-timmermans-aarhus-findings-access-to-justice-unaccc-coll-en.pdf

Chicago

Thornton, James. Access to Justice: Addressing the EU’s non-compliance with the Aarhus Convention. ClientEarth, 2017. https://www.clientearth.org/media/ewkfpgm4/open-letter-to-vp-timmermans-aarhus-findings-access-to-justice-unaccc-coll-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Thornton |first1=James |title=Access to Justice: Addressing the EU’s non-compliance with the Aarhus Convention |publisher=ClientEarth |date=27 March 2017 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/ewkfpgm4/open-letter-to-vp-timmermans-aarhus-findings-access-to-justice-unaccc-coll-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{thornton2017access, author = {Thornton, James}, title = {{Access to Justice: Addressing the EU’s non-compliance with the Aarhus Convention}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2017}, month = mar, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/ewkfpgm4/open-letter-to-vp-timmermans-aarhus-findings-access-to-justice-unaccc-coll-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }