Commission’s expansion of NGO rights to legally challenge on environmental grounds could impact new mineral wool plants

The European Commission is attempting to redress the balance regarding public access to information and justice regarding the environmental impact of industrial activity, as well as the ability of NGOs to demand reviews of administrative acts. As the Commission’s activity progresses, there are likely to be far-ranging consequences, including a more robust voice for those opposing developments such as the planned mineral wool plant in Soissons, France, where there has been vocal opposition to the new production facilities on environmental and health grounds, writes Martin Banks.

In September, the European Commission concluded the evaluation of the Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75 (IED), which had started in 2018. The Commission deemed the industrial emissions law effective but saw room for improvement. Among other things, public access to information and justice had only somewhat improved. The areas where the performance of the IED was not satisfactory would be central to the review of the IED, which the Commission has formally started earlier this year. In its 2001 Work Programme the Commission said in October that it plans to make a legislative proposal by the end of next year.In October, the European Commission published a roadmap on EU Action Plan towards a Zero Pollution Ambition for air, water and soil.

This Action Plan will aim to better prevent and remedy pollution from air, water, soil and consumer products. In particular, the Commission will focus on strengthening implementation, enforcing existing EU law, and consider the need to improve the existing EU health and environment rules by reviewing the evaluations and impact assessments relating to the pollution of air, water and the marine environment, as well as road transport, industrial emissions and waste, among others.

The Commission is conducting an online public consultation until February 2021. It intends to adopt the Action Plan in the second quarter of 2021.In October, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Regulation and a Communication on improving access to environmental justice under the Aarhus Convention. The legislative proposal  would expand the rights of NGOs to demand reviews of administrative acts. In the accompanying communication the Commission pointed to systemic shortcomings concerning the implementation of access to justice in environmental matters at the national level.

It asked member states to resolve problems faced by NGOs in obtaining legal standing to bring legal challenges and other procedural hurdles, such as prohibitively high costs.The European Commission’s approach is in contrast to that of the national government in France, which had been promoting a bill to cut red tape for companies building new factories there. The French policy has been criticised by NGOs such as Notre Affaire à Tous, which defends  access to environmental justice and sued the French state for alleged climate inaction. They have  sent a letter to France's Constitutional Court warning that some of the bill's provisions could breach the country's Environmental Charter.

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