scholarly journals Judicial Enforcement of Environmental Democracy: a Critical Analysis of Case Law on Access to Environmental Information in the European Union

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-43
Author(s):  
Marjan Peeters
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Access ◽  
Environmental Democracy ◽  
Gain Access ◽  
The Eu

Abstract Since the 1970s, the concept of environmental democracy, including the right to gain access to environmental information, has emerged as an important concept to promote and ensure public engagement in governmental environmental decision-making. While it is, generally, understood that environmental procedural rights deserve protection across the globe, it remains to be identified to what extent, in practice, the application of such rights differs across jurisdictions. Such differences may be caused by specific understandings of democracy and institutional characteristics. In light of this, this article analyses the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the right of access to environmental information. It observes that the EU legislature has implemented the right of access to environmental information more ambitiously than required under the Aarhus Convention, particularly with regard to legislative information. Moreover, the CJEU has steered EU institutions, including the European Commission, towards even greater transparency. The judicial reasoning by the CJEU is principled and refers to general values regarding openness and transparency codified in primary EU law and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. These judicial developments also highlight the importance of promoting discourse on the implications of a rigorous approach to the right of access to environmental information, including the question of whether enabling wider public engagement necessarily leads to better decision-making. Finally, the article promotes the need for comparative research on how the right to gain access to environmental information is developing across the world.

scholarly journals Preparation of a Legislative Proposal in the Multilingual Legal System of the European Union

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-50
Author(s):  
Anna Doliwa-Klepacka
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Legal System ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Language Version ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Legislative Proposal ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Access ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The principle of multilingualism in the legal system of the European Union is one of the key elements that guarantees, among others, the right of access to EU legislation. It is particularly important not only in the sphere of the direct application of the EU law, but also in the sphere of access to information during the lawmaking procedures at the EU institutions. A special case is, however, a stage of preparing a draft legislative proposal by the European Commission. The EU member states agree to limit the use of official language version to the working documents for “working” languages of the Commission, i.e. English, French and German. In practice, English and French are the most widely used languages for the working arrangements in the preparation of the draft legislation, mainly due to costs of the necessary translations and an effectiveness of this stage. This article presents a course of the stage of the drafting a legislative proposal by the Commission and illustrates the scope of work partly exempted from the obligation to ensure the full application of the principle of equivalence of all the official languages of the European Union.

Civis Europeus Sum – Union Citizenship and the Influence of the Court of Justice of the European Union

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-80
Author(s):  
Verica Trstenjak
Keyword(s):  
Member State ◽  
Case Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Tax Relief ◽  
Personal Rights ◽  
Union Citizenship ◽  
Free Movement Of Persons ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Eu

Since its formation in 1950s as the economic community, the EU has created the monetary union and is increasingly evolving also into a political union – part of which is also a union or Europe of citizens. This article explores the development and the existing EU legislation and case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) on Union citizenship. The article emphasises the importance of the case law of the CJEU for the development of this concept, focusing especially on the case law pertaining to access to social security benefits in another Member State, the rights of students, tax relief, and personal rights such as the right to write a name in a certain way and the right to family life. Case law of the CJEU has, inter alia, confirmed that even economically inactive Union citizens lawfully residing in another Member State have a right to access to social benefits under the same conditions as the Member State’s own nationals. The concept of the Union citizenship is of key importance in the development of EU law, as it expands the scope of the applicability of the provisions on free movement of persons and other fundamental freedoms. New challenges and questions linked to Union citizenship are arising over time, which should also be regulated at the EU level in the future. Therefore, further development of this concept can still be expected in the EU.

scholarly journals The ‘Europe with the Regions’ before the Court of Justice

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Panara
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Right ◽  
Regional Languages ◽  
The Eu

This article analyses the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concerning the regions. It argues that there is a discrepancy between the progressive framing of a ‘Europe with the regions’ in the political sphere and the limited impact of the Court in this field. This discrepancy does not emerge everywhere, nor does it emerge with the same intensity in all sectors. Indeed, in a number of areas, the CJEU has acknowledged the role and responsibilities of the regions. Examples include the right/duty of the regions to implement EU obligations, the protection of regional languages, as well as the ‘sufficient autonomy’ test developed by the CJEU in relation to state aid. There is no ‘ideological opposition’ of the CJEU to an increasing ‘regionalisation’ of the EU. There are, however, structural hindrances that prevent the Court from promoting further advancements of the status of the regions in the European edifice, particularly as regards their participation in EU processes. Since the EU remains a ‘union of states’, the ‘Europe with the regions’ has developed so far, and is likely to continue to develop, via advancements reflected in policy-making practices, soft-law arrangements and Treaty amendments rather than via the ‘judge-made federalism’ of the Court.

scholarly journals Constitutional basis of Austria’s accession to the European Union

2009 ◽  
pp. 111-119
Author(s):  
E. A. Vodyanitskaya
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Central Government ◽  
National Council ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Federal Constitution ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Eu

On 1 January 1995 Austria became a member of the European Union. Austria’s accession to the EU constituted the most important transfer of jurisdiction in the history of the Federal Constitution. On this occasion the Austrian legislature passed an amendment to the Federal Constitution which provides for the participation of Austrian organs in the decision-making process of the European Union. The legal basis of Austria’s membership in the EU is the treaty on accession to the European Union and the special constitutional bill authorizing the competent authorities to ratify the treaty on accession. First of all, provisions on the election of Austrian members to the European Parliament were introduced by the amendment into the Constitution. Secondly, the amendment contains a procedure for participation of the Austrian lands and local governments in the decisions of the European Union. Thirdly, the legislative bodies on the central government level (National Council and Federal Council) are also accorded the right to participate in decision-making of the EU. Finally, a special provision confirming Austria’s participation in the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the Union was introduced.

The European Union and the Rights of Individuals in Criminal Proceedings

2019 ◽  
pp. 114-136
Author(s):  
Valsamis Mitsilegas
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
Transformative Potential ◽  
Right To Information ◽  
The Right ◽  
Procedural Rights ◽  
Right Of Access ◽  
The Eu

This chapter considers the secondary legislation that has been adopted by European Union institutions under Article 82(2) TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) in the field of procedural rights in criminal proceedings. Article 82(2) TFEU is included in the Lisbon Treaty conferring to the EU express competence to adopt minimum standards on criminal procedure. The chapter first provides an overview of the EU Directive on the right to interpretation and translation, the right to information, the right of access to a lawyer, the right to legal aid, procedural rights of children, and presumption of innocence. It then discusses some of the key challenges in reaching agreement on EU standards on procedural rights in criminal proceedings, before concluding with an analysis of the transformative potential of EU law on procedural rights when viewed within the broader constitutional and institutional context of the EU.

scholarly journals The Right to Be Heard in the European Union – Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 264
Author(s):  
Pranvera Beqiraj (Mihani)
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Individual Measure ◽  
Right To Good Administration ◽  
The Right

The right to be heard as a fundamental right within the Europen legal order was included in the right to good administration in the Charter of Fundamental Right of the European Union and imposes that every person has the right to be heard before any individual measure which would affect him or er adversely is taken. However, the Court of Justice of the European Union has a consolidated jurisprudence regarding the right to be heard which has already recognized it as a general principle and fundamental right. This paper will analyze this case law , which determine the nature of the decision-making process where this right must be applied, the nature of the decision taken and the way the interests of the person concened are affected. For this purpose different decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union are taken under study.

scholarly journals ENVIRONMENTAL DEMOCRACY THROUGH ACCESS TO INFORMATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 364-371
Author(s):  
Nabil Madani ◽  
◽  
Hassan Moumni ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Environmental Decision Making ◽  
The Right ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Environmental Democracy

The overall aim of environmental laws is to protect the environment from any adversary effects in order to lay down the foundations for sustainable development and secure a better life on earth for the present and future generations. Environmental protection is more urgent today than ever especially due to global environmental problems. Such a noble aim can only be achieved through environmental democracy rather than exclusive and top-down decision-making. Morocco, for example, witnesses intermittent social protests triggered by the lack of access to environmental information and the gap between laws and their implementation.The main aim of this study is thus to argue that access to information is at the heart of democracy and that the achievement of the intertwined objectives of environment protection, sustainable development, and environmental democracy is dependent on the effective implementation of the right of access to information and the adoption a participatory approach in environmental decision-making. For this, we first define the concept of environmental information, and the access to this human right in international and Moroccos legislations then, we highlight the crucial role of the mass media in raising the public awareness of the threatening environmental issues and their rights and obligations towards the environment and finally, we shed light on the link between the right to access environmental information and the establishment of environmental democracy.

scholarly journals The Right to Family Reunion vs Integration Conditions for Third-Country Nationals

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrycja Dąbrowska-Kłosińska
Keyword(s):  
Case Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Family Reunion ◽  
Law System ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Individual Assessment ◽  
The Right ◽  
Migration Law ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Third Country Nationals

Abstract The article explores the approach of the Court of Justice of the European Union to the clash between the fundamental right to family reunion and the powers of Member States to protect national identity as a manifestation of sovereignty. The recent case-law pertinent to national measures imposing pre-entry, integration conditions on foreigners and the latter rights under the Directive 2006/83/EC (‘FRD’) on the right of third-country nationals to family reunion provides a basis for the analysis. The aim of this article is to establish and appraise the Court’s approach to the conflict in question. My claim is that the CJEU should have been more restrictive in its reasoning regarding the pre-entry integration measures, and that its interpretation based on individual assessment, proportionality principle and effet utile may not be sufficient for a scrutiny of national powers under FRD. I thus argue that the Court should be more proactive to provide a constitutional, contextual and systemic interpretation of the right to family reunion under the FRD, Article 7 and 24 of the EU Charter and the EU migration law system.

scholarly journals Umocnienie praw jednostki w postępowaniu karnym w Unii Europejskiej a dyrektywa w sprawie dostępu do adwokata

2014 ◽  
pp. 11-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastazja Gajda
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Access ◽  
The Eu

The paper deals with the new Directive on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings in EU. The Directive aims at straightening of the rights of suspects (defendants) as a result of introduction of minimal standards (article 82 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union). The Directive asserts the right of a suspect on the whole territory of the EU to remain in contact with his/her attorney from the moment of arrest until the end of criminal proceedings. The paper presents genesis of the Directive, the legislative process and analyses contents of the Directive.

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