WRITTEN QUESTION E-2674/02

by Kathleen Van Brempt (PSE) to the Commission

(24 September 2002)

Subject: Environmental issues public access to information in the European decision-making process public input into this decision making

Taking account of the environmental policies and objectives of the European Communities, including the importance of public access to the environmental information held by the authorities,

- and bearing in mind that the Sixth Environment Action Programme Environment 2010: Our Future, Our Choice again stresses the need to ensure better and more accessible information on the environment for citizens,

- the aim of Council Directive 90/313/EEC(1) of 7 June 1990 on the freedom of access to information on the environment is to guarantee free access to the environmental information available, and dissemination of this information through the periodic publication of descriptive reports. The directive states that access to information on the environment held by public authorities will improve environmental protection,

- one of the aims of the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on public access to environmental information(2) is to remedy the shortcomings that have come to light in the practical application of Directive 90/313/EEC, as well as to bring the directive into line with developments in the area of information and communication technology,

- bearing in mind the preparations for ratification by the European Community of the Aarhus Convention of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, in which activities are presented in three areas: giving the public better access to information, allowing citizens greater participation in environmental decision making, and giving them greater access to justice in environmental matters;

Can the Commission say:

- whether it is aware that the possibilities offered by the information society are by no means optimally exploited at present, even though this could easily be done in an inexpensive way; (an example of this is the frequent unavailability of laws, proposals, opinions etc., or the unnecessary complexity of gaining access to them);

- what concrete measures the Commission intends to take to ensure that the possibilities of the information society are used to best advantage, so that the aims of the abovementioned instruments can be realised;

- when and how the Commission will take these steps, and how it will guarantee that they will lead to effective access for the public in a sufficiently simple and comprehensible manner.

(1) OJ L 158, 23.6.1990, p. 56.

(2) COM(2001) 303 fin., OJ C 240 E, 28.8.2001, p. 289.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(28 November 2002)

Like the Honourable Member, the Commission attaches great importance to the supply of high-quality environmental information to the public.

In the current state of Community legislation, Council Directive 90/313/EEC of 7 June 1990, on the freedom of access to environmental information, gives the public a right to environmental information upon request. It also obliges periodic publication of descriptive reports. The Directive does not impose an obligation to create publicly accessible databases. Where public authorities do so, they do this on their own initiative, which is welcomed by the Commission.

The Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters, signed(1) by all Member States and the Community, goes beyond the current Directive in that the Convention also contains an obligation actively to disseminate environmental information to the public. This information must progressively become available in electronic databases that are easily accessible to the public through public telecommunications networks.

The proposal for a Directive of the Parliament and the Council on public access to environmental information(2) strengthens Directive 90/313/EEC and completes it with the obligations flowing from the Aarhus Convention.

The Commission is convinced that this proposal contains sufficient guarantees for an effective realisation of the right of access to environmental information, not only upon request, but also as the result of the active dissemination of information by the public authorities. The proposal contains a number of rules that define and guarantee the right of public access to environmental information. It contains, for example, clear obligations for public authorities to indeed create electronic databases with clear search-instruments and to make these accessible to the public through telecommunication networks. The proposal also contains obligations to assist and provide guidance to the public in access to information and clear rules on the practical arrangements for access to environmental information.

As regards the implementation of the Aarhus Convention at Community level, these obligations are already fulfilled to a great extent by Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to Parliament, Council and Commission documents(3)). Furthermore, Commission, Council and Parliament have already made considerable progress in putting documents they have in their possession (and which are not covered by one of the exceptions foreseen in the Regulation), in electronic databases and through registers that are publicly accessible through telecommunications networks. Thus, a lot of environmental information has already been made publicly accessible.

The developments in the information society constantly offer new possibilities for electronic dissemination and accessibility of data. The Commission is aware of the fact that such new possibilities are not always or cannot always be directly and optimally used, because of the fact that the use of such new possibilities often requires considerable investments in equipment and personnel. This, however, does not necessarily imply that public access to the information through electronic networks is limited or hindered. The Commission has, however, confidence that the legislative instruments that are being developed at the moment the above mentioned instruments, but also other initiatives such as the recent Commission proposal for a Directive on the re-use and commercial exploitation of public sector documents(4) will push public authorities to effectively use such new possibilities to the widest extent possible. The modified Directive on public access to environmental information, on which Council and Parliament reached an agreement in conciliation on the 6 November 2002, will be formally adopted by the end of 2002. The Commission envisages furthermore to submit a proposal for applying the principles of the Aarhus Convention to the Community Institutions and will examine the questions raised by the Honourable Member in this context.

(1) Denmark, France and Italy have ratified the Convention.

(2) OJ C 337 E, 28.11.2000.

(3) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001.

(4) OJ C 227 E, 24.9.2002.