Enforcing EU environmental policy effectively: international influences, current barriers and possible solutions

Abstract

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Is the Commission levelling the playing field? Rights enforcement in the European Union

“…In its stead, the Commission has issued a soft law measure similar to its recommendation on collective redress procedures, in the form of an 'interpretative communication' on the obligations of member states arising out of existing legislation and case-law (European Commission 2017a). In the absence of a binding legislative measure, case law of the Court of Justice has expansively interpreted member state obligations flowing from the Aarhus Convention itself, with the effect that environmental interest groups now face less and less obstacles to legal standing in national courts (Eliantonio 2016;Hofmann forthcoming).…”