Public Participation Act
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Law on public participation in environmental matters according to EC Directive 2003/35 / EC |
| Short title: | Public Participation Act |
| Type: | Federal law |
| Scope: | Federal Republic of Germany |
| Legal matter: | Administrative law |
| Issued on: | December 9, 2006 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 2819 ) |
| Entry into force on: | December 15, 2006 |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
The law on public participation in environmental matters according to EC Directive 2003/35 / EC ( Public Participation Act ) is intended to implement European Directive 2003/35 / EC (so-called Public Information Directive) into German law together with the Environmental Remedies Act . It introduces changes in the area of public participation in various specialist laws.
background
The law serves to adapt federal law to the mandatory requirements of European law. The EC Directive 2003/35 / EC had to be implemented in German law by June 25, 2005. The federal government fell behind with implementation. A draft law was only introduced to parliament in August 2006 after infringement proceedings had been opened and marked as particularly urgent.
For its part, Directive 2003/35 / EC served to implement the UN / ECE convention on access to information, public participation in decisions and access to justice in environmental matters (so-called Aarhus Convention).
The Public Participation Act came into force on December 15, 2006. The European Commission withdrew the infringement proceedings pending before the European Court of Justice in January 2007.
An intense legal dispute has arisen in Germany over the implementation of the Public Information Directive and the Aarhus Convention. The focus was and is the question of the extent to which the environmental and nature conservation associations should be given the opportunity to participate and take legal action.
Public participation
Public participation is an important part of legal planning procedures. The purpose is to give the interested public the opportunity to participate in the approval procedure for environmentally relevant projects by inspecting the planning documents and making statements, so-called objections. In addition to those affected and interested citizens, the public is primarily the environmental and nature conservation associations. These bring the concerns of the environment and nature into the planning.
Is changed by the law u. a. the UVPG (law on environmental impact assessment) and the BImSchG ( Federal Immission Control Act ).
criticism
Like the Environmental Remedies Act , the Public Participation Act has come under fire. The federal legislature has used the alignment of the German legal situation with the European requirements to introduce further modifications to the manner of public participation: The environmental and nature conservation associations do not have to be informed about the planning process, nor do they receive the planning documents required for the objection without being asked. Notification will be given in the official gazette or via the Internet.
