Environmental protection: legal challenges hampered by costs
New EU Commission communication on access to justice, which is also hampered by numerous procedural obstacles
Access to justice is central to ensuring the effectiveness of the rules designed to protect the environment and is essential for the economic development of the Union. With this in mind, the European Commission has published a new communication on access to justice in environmental matters (C/2026/3692), which updates the first communication adopted in 2015 and serves as an important tool for national administrations and courts, as well as for economic operators, providing them with a clear regulatory framework. It is not merely a question of the necessary environmental protection, but also a measure aimed at developing 19 of the EU’s 23 economic sectors that depend to a large extent on nature.
The Union – the Commission points out – places at the centre Regulation 1367/2006 on the implementation by Community bodies of the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters, as well as the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which has issued important rulings ‘clarifying the requirements regarding access to justice in environmental matters, both within the framework of secondary harmonisation legislation and outside it’.
Critical issues
There is no shortage of critical issues. First and foremost is the practical difficulty faced by individuals and non-governmental organisations, who encounter internal obstacles in gaining access to national courts. Streamlined procedures are essential for businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, which need precise timeframes and a clear legal framework in the event of legal disputes.
According to the Commission’s analysis, the main obstacles to access to justice in environmental matters relate to the prohibitive costs of bringing cases before national courts, the lack of standing for NGOs, procedural obstacles, the length of proceedings and the inconsistent transposition of EU legislation by all Member States.
The role of the public
The Commission has highlighted the importance of the public’s active role and the protection of public interests, including through the procedural obligations incumbent upon Member States. As stated in the Communication, many EU directives expressly provide for the right to bring legal proceedings, with the result that national courts must be open to judicial appeals centred on requests for environmental information, specific activities subject to the requirement for public participation, and environmental liability.
