Blog post. Aarhus response shows contrast in enforcing EU and international law

Description

An official report on the UK’s response to findings that it is not complying with its international obligations serves to illustrate what is being lost in terms of the enforcement of environmental commitments when the UK leaves the EU. The gap that would emerge highlights the importance of the governance and compliance proposals that are currently being considered in all parts of the UK.

The issue has arisen under the Aarhus Convention. This international treaty seeks to guarantee the rights of citizens in relation to access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision making and access to justice in environmental matters. Both the UK and the EU are parties to the Convention, which establishes an independent committee that can consider claims that parties are not living up to their commitments. The Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee has recently given its views on the UK government’s progress report, which was itself required in response to earlier determinations by the Committee that the UK was not complying with its obligations under the Convention.

Period	3 Apr 2019
Degree of Recognition	National