On Wednesday 13 July, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the work it is preparing to determine how to bring the EU Regulation on public access to justice in environmental matters (EC Regulation 1367/2006, the so-called Aarhus Regulation) into line with the international Aarhus Convention as regards state aid decisions.
By amending its Aarhus Regulation in October 2021, the EU had only partially complied with its international obligations.
It had in effect excluded the possibility for the public to challenge state aid despite the fact that the Compliance Committee of the Aarhus Convention had previously found a violation of the Convention (Case ACCC/C/2015/128 - see EUROPE 12806/8).
The Commission’s initiative, expected in the fourth quarter of 2022, will aim to analyse the implications of these findings and assess possible options to remedy the problem - taking into account EU state aid rules, the EU institution says.
The Commission assures that the contributions received will be taken into account.
The online public consultation will be open until midnight Brussels time on 5 October.
To access: https://aeur.eu/f/2n0 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)