Participation And Litigation Rights Of Environmental Associations In Europe

This book assembles the revised papers of an international conference and thus offers a comprehensive comparative overview of the participation and litigation rights of environmental associations in Europe. This is supplemented by a compilation of the relevant statutory law in force. Besides the legal background, the focus of interest is above all on "practical experience" with participation and litigation rights "from the point of view of the environmental associations." The contributions show that the effectivity of group actions is extremely high. In none of the analysed countries were there the slightest indications of any undue strain being placed on the judicial system by this instrument. There can be no doubt that the participation and litigation rights of environmental organizations are important instruments in reducing the enforcement deficit in environmental protection. With a view to the fact that Europe is growing more and more into one entity, the need of participation of environmental NGO's on the European level becomes a pressing necessity.

Can—and should—participation be a means of achieving sustainability? The concepts of sustainability and participation are both in vogue, and many international, supranational and national legal texts and standards refer to these two concepts. However, there are still several unanswered questions that invite legal inquiry: which sustainability? Which kinds of participation? Participation by whom? How are the two concepts of sustainability and participation effectively interlinked in legal provisions? This book approaches the interconnection between sustainability and participation inductively and precisely in areas of law which are commonly associated with sustainability and sustainable development: national, European and international environmental and economic law.

On 30 October 2011, it will be exactly ten years ago that the Convention on Access to information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, signed by representative of 35 States and the European Community at a pan-European ministerial conference in the Danish city of Aarhus in 1998, entered into force. This multilateral treaty, negotiated under the auspices of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, represents the most comprehensive and ambitious effort to establish international legal standards in the field of citizens' environmental rights to date. Though some of these standards were inspired by earlier EU environmental legislation, many provisions of the Aarhus Convention went beyond the rights already guaranteed by the EU and compelled the European Commission to propose new legislature acts, most of which were adopted between 2003 and 2006, to bring EU environmental law up to the Convention's standards. Since its adoption over a --

Amid widespread awareness and discussion of “the democratic deficit” and “shrinking civil space,” the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) becomes increasingly important. Yet the precise legal status of such bodies is ill-defined. Here, for the first time, is a thorough commentary and analysis of the position of NGOs and European civil society in the European Union (EU) constitutional system, bringing to the fore existing and desirable means of public participation in EU lawmaking. Recognizing that NGOs have historically been designed to meet the ends of civil society, the analysis focuses on the following topics and issues: means in EU law of advocating for the collective interests of civil society; unofficial means of influencing the EU institutions; access to documents and the European Citizens’ Initiative as means of exerting pressure on EU legislation; relations between the EU institutions and NGOs, including lobbying activities; bringing actions in the common good before courts and other institutions; the special role of NGOs in environmental protection; complaints to the Commission and the European Ombudsman; EU funding for NGOs; and transboundary philanthropy. Drawing on a broad spectrum of sources of law, including CJEU case law and relevant legal literature, the book offers insightful proposals leading to the democratization of the EU’s internal procedures that will allow enhanced cooperation of civil society representatives across national borders. In its thorough examination of legal tools that can respond to the “democratic deficit,” this book makes a distinctive contribution to the public debate on the future of the European Union, especially in the context of emerging threats to further integration. It will prove of great value not only to civil activists, academics and policymakers but also to everyone interested in European integration and affordance for social participation.

This book is dedicated to a topic which has for a long time lacked the attention it deserves within the academic world. It intends to address in a coherent and comprehensive manner the problem of the environmental rights of the child, which are not identical to the ones of adults whose environmental rights have been appraised from a general point of view. In the absence of any international law instrument explicitly granting a child the right to a clean environment, drawing on an extensive and original analysis of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the practice of its monitoring body, this book undertakes an assessment of the extent to which these challenges may be overcome through a greater engagement between international law on the rights of the child and international environmental law. The result is the first comprehensive study on the manner in which these two mutually reinforcing legal regimes can interact to strengthen the protection of children’s environmental human rights at stake in the increased strategic environmental and climate litigations at both the national and international level. The book is recommended reading for, amongst others, policy makers, international environmental lawyers and human rights lawyers and practitioners. Additionally, lecturers, students and researchers from a range of disciplines will also gain from seeing how new legal scholarship and intertwined branches of international law contribute to the continual development of the living rights of the human rights conventions. Francesca Ippolito is Associate Professor of International Law in the Department of Political and Social Science of the University of Cagliari, Italy. She holds the Jean Monnet Chair on European Climate of Change - REACT for 2021-2024.

Dr. Ludwig Kr�¤mer, born 1939, retired from the European Commission in August 2004. Dr. Kr�¤mer joined the European Commission in 1972, where he started his career dealing with consumer protection issues in the Competition Directorate-General. He successfully combined his profession as an official of the European Commission with intensive writing and teaching activities. Dr. Kr�¤mer is the author of numerous books, handbooks and articles on EC environmental law. He is an environmental law professor and regularly teaches at several European and non-European universities. In his teaching and speeches, he has inspired his audience and spurred many young people into working to protect the environment. On the occasion of his retirement from the Commission, a group of colleagues and friends decided to honor him with the production of this book, which assembles legal essays on a number of EC environmental law subjects.

The proceedings of an International Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland, January 1993, providing a comprehensive overview of environmental issues in Central European countries, and a look at possible problem-solving approaches with comparative studies based on some current Western practices. The volume is organized in three parts: environmental management--principles and experiences; challenges to Central European countries (Poland/Czechy and Slovaky//Hungary/Romania/ex-USSR/ex-East Germany); and systems analysis and techno-economic modeling. No index. Note: the $120 price is estimated; the publisher's price is 590 francs. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

An interdisciplinary approach to the study of the EU in UN human rights and environmental governance which addresses the legal and political science dimensions. With contributions from academics and policy-makers, this volume is a comprehensive analysis of how the challenges it faces impact on the EU's position in UN fora.