The fundamental right of access to environmental information in the EC: A critical analysis of WWF-EPO v. Council

Journal of Environmental Law

Volumn 19, Issue 3, 2007, Pages 399-408

  de Abreu Ferreira, Sofia ^a  

^a EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE   (Italy)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CRITICAL ANALYSIS; ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION; EUROPEAN UNION; INFORMATION; PUBLIC ACCESS;

EURASIA; EUROPE;

EID: 35948966727     PISSN: 09528873     EISSN: 1464374X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/jel/eqm033     Document Type: Article

References (35)

1. Regulation 1049/2001/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, OJ L 145/43, 31 May 2001.
2. Council Directive 90/313/EEC on the Freedom of Access to Information on the Environment of 7 June 1990, OJ L 158 of 23.06.1990.
3. See KRAMËR, L., EC Environmental Law, (6th edn. Sweet & Maxwell, London, (2007).
4. Treaty on the European Union ('TEU' or Maastricht Treaty), OJ C 191, 29 July 1992, signed on 7 February 1992 and entered into force on 1 November 1993.
5. Ibid, Declaration 17.
6. COM (93) 258 final, OJ C 166/5, 2 June 1993.
7. Decision 94/90, (1994) OJ L 340/41.
8. Decision 93/371, (1993) OJ L 340/43.
9. Treaty of Amsterdam, OJ C 340 of 10.11.1997. The Treaty was signed on 2 October 1997 and entered into force on 1 May 1999.
10. Treaty of Nice, OJ C 80, 10 March 2001. The Treaty was signed 26th February 2001 and entered into force on 1 February 2003.
11. Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, OJ C 364/1, 18 December 2000. The Charter of Fundamental Rights is the result of a joint proclamation, by the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission at the Nice Council.
12. For information on the status of the ratifications of the Aarhus Convention see http://www.unece.org/env/pp/welcome.html (last visited 05 August 2007). All the EU-27 Member States with the exception of Ireland are Parties to this Convention.
13. Council Decision 2005/370/EC of 17 February 2005 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Community, of the Aarhus Convention on Access to information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, OJ L 124/1 of 17 May 2005.
14. Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (hereafter the 'Aarhus Convention'), adopted at Aarhus, Denmark on 25 June 1998 and entered into force on 30 October 2001, available at http://www.unece.org/env/pp/welcome.html (last visited on 05 August 2007).
15. Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on Public Access to Environmental Information and Repeating Directive 90/313/EEC, in OJ L 041 of 14 February 2003.
16. Regulation (EC) 1367/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006 on the application to the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters to Community Institutions and Bodies, OJ L 264/13, 25 September 2006 ('the Aarhus Regulation'). The Aarhus Regulation entered into force on 28 June 2007.
17. See Article 1, Annex III of Council Decision of 29 November 2001 amending the Council's rules of procedure, in OJ L 313/41 of 30 November 2001.
18. Article 2 (a) and Article 3, Aarhus Regulation.
19. In S8 of the Preamble of the 'Transparency Regulation', these three institutions tried to promote a broader application of the 'Regulation 1049 model' by calling on other institutions, agencies, and bodies of the EU to adopt internal rules following the principles of this regime. Several of those decided, thus, to establish a transparency regime of their own, such was, for instance, the case of the EEA or the EIB.
20. Article 2 (c) and Article 3, Aarhus Regulation.
21. Ibid Article 2 (c) and Article 3 S2.
22. Pre-'Transparency Regulation' rules considered that documents held by an institution were the ones authored by an institution. See, for the Council, Article 1 (2) together wi th Article 2 (2), Decision 93/ 731, supra. See, for the Commission, Article 2 (1 and 2) and Annex (Code of Conduct), Decision 94/90, supra.
23. Case T-188/97, Rothmans International BV v. Commission of the European Communities, 19 July 1999.
24. Case T-92/98, Interporc Im-und Export GmbH v. Commission of the Eurapean Communities, 7 December 1999 (Interporc II).
25. These provisions reflect the previously agreed Declaration 35 annexed to the Treaty of Amsterdam.
26. Case T-76/02, Mara Messina v. Commission of the European Communities 17 September 2003
27. Case T-168/02, IFAW Internationaler Tierschutz-Fonds gGmbH v. Commission of the Eurapean Communities, 30 November 2004
28. Case T-187/03, Isabella Scippacercola v. Commission of the European Communities, 17 March 2005.
29. Case T-76/02, Messina, ibid.
30. See, for instance, Case T-105/95, WWF UK (World Wide Fund for Nature) v. Commission of the European Communities, 5 March 1997, at S56 (hereafter WWF UK v. Commission).
31. Joined Cases T-110/03, T-150/03 and T-405/03, José Maria Sison v. Council of the European Union, 26 April 2005 (hereafter Sison v. Council).
32. See, especially, S46-47, 51-52, 54, 61-63, 65, 88.
33. Case T-84/03, Maurizio Turco v. Council of the European Union, 23 November 2004.
34. Case T-14/98, Heidi Hautala v. Council of the European Union, 19 July 1999, CFI.
35. Case C-353/99-P, Council of the European Union v. Heidi Hautala, 6 December 2001, ECJ.