The Aarhus Convention at Ten: Interactions and Tensions between Conventional International Law and EU Environmental Law, edited by Marc Pallemaerts , published by Europa Law, 2011, 440pp., £68.00, paperback.

• Date: 01 November 2013
• Author: Uzuazo Etemire
• Published date: 01 November 2013
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12036

Book Reviews

The Aarhus Convention at

Ten: Interactions and

Tensions between

Conventional International

Law and EU Environmental

Law, edited by Marc

Pallemaerts, published by

Europa Law, 2011, 440pp.,

£68.00, paperback.

In 1998, the most elaborate and

binding international instrument

on public participation in environ-

mental matters was formulated by

the United Nations Economic Com-

mission for Europe (UNECE) and

adopted by nearly all its members:

the Convention on Access to In-

formation, Public Participation in

Decision-Making and Access to

Justice in Environmental Matters

(‘Aarhus Convention’). The year

2008 marked the tenth anniversary

of the Convention, and for this

occasion the Amsterdam Centre

for Environmental Law and

Sustainability of the University of

Amsterdam organized an interna-

tional conference on 25 June 2008.

This edited volume is based on

the proceedings of this conference

and includes (revised) contribu-

tions from most of the speakers

and other invited contributors. This

timely and authoritative book pres-

ents a critical and interesting analy-

sis of the relationship between

various aspects of the Aarhus Con-

vention and the development of

European Union (EU) environmen-

tal law. It also focuses on issues

relating to the implementation and

impact of the Convention within EU

institutions and some EU/UNECE

member States. Contributors

include an array of seasoned experts

in the field. The value of their con-

tributions is enhanced by their

direct and close personal connec-

tion with the formulation and/or

the implementation of the Aarhus

Convention and the related regimes

under discussion, even though their

contributions were made in their

personal capacities.1

The first two chapters set the

context for the volume. In Chapter

1, Francesco La Camera deals with

the potential of the concepts of ‘sus-

tainable development’ and ‘envi-

ronmental democracy’ to address

and prevent harm to the environ-

ment and human wellbeing caused

by the current mode of economic

production and consumption. A

particular point that comes through

strongly is the assertion that the

‘assumption “more growth = less

poverty” ’ usually used as justifica-

tion for the current mode of (largely

unsustainable) production and con-

sumption of natural resources, is

not only ‘false’ but ‘simply impos-

sible’, considering especially its

major negative future impact which

will potentially include economic

recession (p. 31). Chapter 2, by

Stephen Stec, is concerned with

the relationship between the prin-

ciples of the Aarhus Convention and

countries in transition in Central

and Eastern Europe, as well as the

potential of the Convention to be

used by the EU to influence changes

beyond its current borders.

Public access to environmental

information – the first ‘pillar’ of the

Aarhus Convention – is the subject

of the next two chapters. Ralph

Hallo, in Chapter 3, provides an

analysis of the 1990 Directive

on Access to Environmental

Information and discusses how

the experiences garnered through

its implementation informed the

access to information provisions of

the Aarhus Convention. He also

examines how the latter in turn has

informed the revision of the EU

Directive, but finds that the Aarhus

Convention has had no consider-

able influence on the EU’s general

rules on access to documents.

Frankie Schram takes up this dis-

cussion in Chapter 4, in which he

examines the progression from a

specific right of access to environ-

mental information to a general

right to official documents. The

Council of Europe’s Tromsø Con-

vention on Access to Official Docu-

ments adopted in 2009 is the focus

of this chapter, which also includes

a comparative discussion between

its provisions and those relating to

the access to information provisions

of the Aarhus Convention.

The issue of public participation

in environmental decision-making

processes – the second ‘pillar’ of the

Aarhus Convention – is the focus of

chapters 5–8. In Chapter 5, Jerzy

Jendros´ka discusses selected issues

on the (problematic) implementa-

tion of the public participation pro-

visions of the Aarhus Convention

within EU law and its Member

States, based in particular on the

‘case law’ of the Aarhus Convention

Compliance Committee. Daniele

1For example, some of the contributors have

served as: expert advisor during the negotia-

tion and drafting of the Aarhus Convention or

the implementing EU law; member of the

Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee;

Chairman of the Meeting of the Signatories

to the Aarhus Convention (prior to its entry

into force); Chairman of the Meeting of the

Parties to the Aarhus Convention; Secretary

to the Aarhus Convention; Vice-Chair of the

Working Group negotiating the draft text of

the Convention; and member of the Ad Hoc

Expert Group on Public Participation in Inter-

national Forums under the Aarhus Conven-

tion (pp. xx–xxvi).

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Review of European Community & International Environmental Law

RECIEL 22 (3) 2013. ISSN 2050-0386

© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

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