EEB

Enforcement

Implementing European Community Environmental Law

• What is the EU doing?
• What is the EEB doing?
• Minimum Criteria for Environmental Inspections
• Implementing European Community Environmental Law
• Environmental Liability

EEB’s members have submitted dozens of complaints and therefore experienced the frustration of the slow process, the lack of appropriate information from complainants and the lack of access to requested documents.

In 2002 the EEB submitted its proposals for improvement: “EC COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE: EEB's SEVEN KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A CHANGE”

The EEB welcomed the publication of the long awaited Commission Communication on
implementing EU Environmental Law and its proposed improvements to the enforcement process. We also hoped it would address some of its other recommendations. But it takes issue with a series of points that are not addressed in a satisfactory way. Some of the main shortcomings the EEB identified were:

• Transparency: … there is little explicit reference to better access to documents related to infringement procedures.
• Prioritisation and de-prioritisation: EEB believes that the Commission approach is too limited and unacceptable considering that most of the complaints in the environmental area deal with exactly the category of breaches that risk being de-prioritised.
• Interim measures: Breaches of EU environmental law in connection with major projects involving EU funding, can lead to irreversible ecological damage. EEB believes that in such cases it is appropriate to seek interim measures. Their use should therefore not be limited to exceptional cases.

For the full text please click here.

Back