The adoption in 2018 of the Escazú Agreement by the countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region marks the second regional legal instrument aimed at the implementation of Principle 10 of the 1992 Rio Declaration, joining the Aarhus Convention of the pan-European region. The international community has settled upon the regional level as the appropriate means for implementing standards related to access to information, public participation, and access to justice in environmental matters. The appropriateness of the regional level is demonstrated by the differences and innovations found in the Escazú Agreement, in its scope and definitions, background principles, burden of proof and protections of environmental defenders and vulnerable populations. Yet, the regional approach also entails risks, as demonstrated by the limitation of the scope of rights for nationals of the country where specific activities are planned or occurring.

The article aims to provide a background to a new series of reports presenting current cases related to the implementation of the Aarhus Convention. To this end the article briefly presents the origins and legal basis of the Committee as well as its structure and procedures, pointing to some of its particular features and providing some personal observations in this respect.

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The article aims to present the main legal issues related to implementation of the provisions of Article 7 of the Aarhus Convention regarding public participation in the preparations of plans and programs. The analysis is presented against the background of an overview of the legal nature and scope of obligations stemming from the second pillar of the Convention. The article attempts to identify the scope of application of Article 7 and the main elements of the framework for public participation included therein. The legal analysis is based, where appropriate, on the respective opinions of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee. The implementation of the Aarhus Convention in EU law will be addressed in this respect in a separate article in the forthcoming issue of the journal.

The article provides a brief overview and assessment of the proposed measures against the respective political and legal background. It shows that the proposed measures, while generally guided by legitimate objectives, were not properly balanced with the other EU environmental policies. In this context it claims lack of a profound debate regarding the scope and means for such balancing and considers this as a fundamental issue to be addressed before submitting any concrete measures. It then compares the proposed measures with some of the official proclamations in the Europesan Green Deal and shows issues of concern in relation to some of the concrete proposed measures. Finally, it assesses some of the proposed measures as being not controversial and presents proposals for other possible measures to be used for the purpose. The article is based on a presentation given 24th November 2022 in the context of the annual general meeting of the Environmental Law Network International.