Public access to environmental information

Summary:

Since the beginning of the 1990s, and particularly since the adoption of the Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters (‘the Aarhus Convention’) on 25 June 1998, the European Union has established a body of rules enshrining the principle that the public has a right of access to environmental information held by the competent authorities of the Member States (Council Directive 90/313/EEC of 7 June 1990, Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003) or by the EU institutions themselves (Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006).

That legislation added to the relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to documents of the EU institutions, and to the relevant provisions regarding access to information on sector-specific EU legislation adopted in relation to environmental protection. The Court of Justice of the European Union has since developed a considerable body of case-law in various judicial proceedings.