The European Parliament today refused to give environmental organisations the possibility to seek judicial review of EU executive decisions in the European Court of Justice. The Member States had removed this right from the original Commission proposal and amendments seeking to reintroduce this element into the legislation failed to gain the necessary absolute majority of Members in favour. In the second-reading vote on legislation seeking to apply the Arhus Convention to EU institutions and EU decision making, MEP's today upheld the Member States' decision. Speaking after the vote, Green MEP Margrete Auken (Denmark) said:
"Parliament failed to guarantee rights for environmental organisations to monitor the correct implementation of environmental law. I am extremely disappointed that the Parliament, which keeps paying lip service to improving transparency, accountability and good governance at the EU level, failed to apply the Arhus Convention requirement to provide environmental organisations with access to the ECJ to question EU decisions. We would never accept the same level of unaccountability for our national decision-makers."
Green MEP Rebecca Harms (Germany) said:
"The protection of the environment is action for the common good and the environment needs a spokesperson. When polluting the environment concerns us all, but none of us individually, it is not possible to show individual concern as is currently required to challenge the legality of a decision before the court in Luxembourg. At the instigation of the Conservatives and some of the Liberals, the Parliament failed to grant environmental organisations the right to ask for court review of Commission decisions and instead supported the chemical industry and its ability to pressure the EU executive into disregarding the requirements of environmental law."
