Amending the Aarhus Regulation: an internal review mechanism that complies with international law

The document critiques the European Commission's proposal to update the Aarhus Regulation, asserting it fails to meet international law standards set by the Aarhus Convention. It highlights gaps regarding 'national implementing measures', 'external effects' of acts, and the exclusion of state aid decisions. The authors propose specific legislative amendments to broaden the scope of internal review, remove cost barriers for NGOs, and explicitly link the Regulation to the Aarhus Convention to ensure effective judicial review of EU environmental decisions.

• The European Union is currently in breach of the Aarhus Convention because the public lacks access to review procedures to challenge EU decisions that violate environmental law.
• The Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) has stated that the Commission's proposal to amend the Aarhus Regulation would fail to bring the EU into compliance with the Convention unless it is significantly revised.
• The proposal's exclusion of EU acts requiring 'national implementing measures' is identified as a breach of the Aarhus Convention; this provision may force NGOs to use national courts, where they often face barriers to standing and delays.
• The requirement that acts have 'legally binding and external effects' to be subject to review has previously led to unjustified refusals of internal review requests.
• The exclusion of Commission state aid decisions from internal review is deemed non-compliant by the ACCC, as these decisions can directly impact the environment by shaping the energy market or funding infrastructure.
• High legal costs before the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) create a 'chilling effect' for environmental NGOs, particularly when EU bodies hire private law firms and seek to recover those costs from unsuccessful applicants.

APA

ClientEarth (n.d.). Amending the Aarhus Regulation: an internal review mechanism that complies with international law. https://www.clientearth.org/media/luppotkx/position-paper_clientearth-eeb-je_aarhus-regulation_2021-02-23_final_clean.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Amending the Aarhus Regulation: an internal review mechanism that complies with international law. n.d. https://www.clientearth.org/media/luppotkx/position-paper_clientearth-eeb-je_aarhus-regulation_2021-02-23_final_clean.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Amending the Aarhus Regulation: an internal review mechanism that complies with international law |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/luppotkx/position-paper_clientearth-eeb-je_aarhus-regulation_2021-02-23_final_clean.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearthndamending, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Amending the Aarhus Regulation: an internal review mechanism that complies with international law}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/luppotkx/position-paper_clientearth-eeb-je_aarhus-regulation_2021-02-23_final_clean.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }