PhD defence Justine Richelle

Keywords: Aarhus Convention, Procedural rights, Environment, EU law 

"The Right to Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making: The Case of Air Quality in the EU and the Member States"

This thesis examines the right to public participation in environmental decision-making, specifically in the policy areas of air quality and industrial emissions. This thesis first explores the relevant provisions of international law, including the Aarhus Convention, in which the right to public participation is enshrined. This thesis then moves on to analysing secondary EU legislation, notably EU Directives on air quality and industrial emissions, in order to assess how the Aarhus Convention’s requirements are transposed in EU law. Based on these findings, this thesis provides a comparative analysis of the transposition of the public participation requirements in three Member States: Belgium, France, and Ireland. This thesis finds several instances of poor or non-compliance with the Aarhus Convention and EU law. This thesis concludes with the implications of such findings for the uniform application of EU environmental law, and for the exercise of public participation as a democratic value.

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