ENVIRONMENTAL LAW IN

GERMANY

Mekdes Tadele(PhD)
ECSU, School of Law and Federalism
CONTENT
 The Characteristics of Germany Environmental Law
 Allocation of Powers

 Structure and Substance of Environmental Law

 Implementation Framework- Organizational Structure of

Environmental Protection in Germany
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
GERMANY ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
 For over three decades, Germany has been pursuing a
modern environmental policy with some unique
institutional and legal features.
 Compared internationally, it can be credited with some
notable successes
 During the 1990s, pressure on environmental policy from
the business sector for deregulation, privatization and that
Germany no longer "goes it alone".
CONT’D
 In Germany, environmental protection continues to be a
major public concern and a high policy priority.
 This is largely due to pressures on the environment
resulting from its high population density, level of
industrialization and strong dependence on fossil fuels.
 Transport and agriculture also continue to generate
diffuse pressures on the environment.
 Since 1990s….. continuing efforts to reconcile economic
growth and environmental objectives.
CONT’D
 However, important environment related challenges remain
 e.g.waste treatment and disposal, combating nitrate pollution
and transport pollution, nature conservation, progressive phasing
out of nuclear energy,
 German environmental legislation has continued to develop,
influencing and being influenced by EU legislation.
 Enforcement and compliance are generally effective, based
on good monitoring and institutional capacities.
 An Environmental Code, aiming at harmonizing,
simplifying and integrating environmental legislation, was
under preparation, but didn’t come to reality
CONT’D
 German environmental policy is guided by three
principles: polluter-pays, precaution, and co-operation
 expressed in regulations and economic instruments, and
 increasing participation and involvement of stakeholders.

 A range of economic instruments are used to internalize

costs and contribute to economic efficiency.
CONT’D
 German regulators have been active in policy shaping
 Germany heavily relies on its permit, licenses and audit
systems where applicable.
 Administrative oversight of industries and operations
that may impact on the environment is mainly informed
by experts’ opinion at the consenting stage.
 Growing role of certain NGOs and acknowledged
interest groups to initiate judicial review on the grounds
of non-compliance with environmental law.
ALLOCATION OF POWERS
 Environmental Constitutionalism: National Objectives
and Obligations to Protect
 In 1994, environmental protection has been defined as a
national objective, under the German Federal
Constitution (the Basic Law).
 The Constitution provides that the legislature and all
public bodies shall strive to safeguard the environment
and natural resources for the benefit of future
generations.
 This objective is also embodied in all constitutions of the
16 states
CONT’D
 Yet, the federal constitution doesn’t explicitly stipulate a
fundamental right of the people to a healthy and decent
environment
 the demands for a fundamental right to environmental protection
did not prevail, especially for reasons of the Constitution’s basic
philosophy being built around human dignity.
 Instead, some other constitutional norms of a general
character are usually cited to back up the claim that the
federal government has a specific duty to protect the
environment.
 These include; the "social welfare state clause" (Art. 20, 28 GG);
the right to life and physical integrity (Art. 2 GG); the guarantee
of property and social obligations regarding its use (Art. 14 GG).
CONT’D
 Since the beginning of the 1980s, there have been
several attempts by political parties to amend the Federal
constitution in order to provide for environmental rights
in a more specific way.
 Not successful
 The main arguments against a basic right and a more
broad-brush state goal have been based on the fear that
this might lead to a wave of litigation and to a shift of
power from the executive and legislative towards the
judiciary.
CONT’D
 But, it is generally agreed that protection of the
environment is a state duty.
 The Federal Constitutional Court has passed some basic
judgments stating that the Federal Government has a
general obligation to protect the environment, especially
when inaction would endanger life, health or property of
the citizens.
 However, the existence of a basic right to (or a legally
binding state goal to provide for) a decent environment
was rejected.
CONT’D
 In summary, the constitutionally required obligations and
rights regarding a decent environment are very vague.
 They do not establish "individual rights", i.e. they do not
provide a basis for individuals or groups to sue on the
grounds of disregard of constitutional environmental
rights, unless the "ecological minimum of existence" is
endangered by state activities,
 i.e.
if environmental pollution resulting from these activities
would directly damage life, health and property.
CONT’D
 At state (Länder) level, many constitutions contain goals
that call for a protection of nature, landscape, and natural
resources
 The constitution of one of the states even contains a
basic right to environmental protection
 The constitution grants the Federal Government several
specified law-making powers giving it broad authority
for legislation in the environmental area.
CONT’D
 Numerous EU acts were influential in shaping the system
of environmental law in Germany.
 Despite different initiatives, no uniform environmental
code was adopted.
 Federal and state agencies have different powers with
regard to enforcement.
 The administrations of the states are generally tasked with
the enforcement of federal law.
 Few specialized areas, such as nuclear power for instance,
fall under the responsibility of direct federal administration.
 Enforcement powers reach vertically from state ministries
over regions to local communities.
LEGISLATIVE POWER
 The constitution provides very long list of federal
legislative powers,
 so that in practical terms legislation is largely a federal
matter.
 The federal legislative competences are divided into
exclusive and concurrent powers
 Those legislative matters relevant to environmental
protection are all to be found in the field of concurrent
competences.
 environmental law is significantly shaped by federal
legislation, while the environmental legislation of states
(Länder) remains marginal
CONT’D
 the Federal Government has the following environment-
related powers
 Exclusive Jurisdiction (Art. 73 GG):
 only for areas relating indirectly to environmental protection:
federal railways, air traffic, statistics, international affairs,
bilateral and multilateral agreements.
 Concurrent (competitive) Jurisdiction (Art. 74) for:
 some aspects of commercial, civil and criminal law
 noise abatement
 nuclear energy (siting, radiation protection)
 waste management
 air pollution control
 poisonous substances
 Plant, animal and coast protections
CONT’D
 Concurrent legislation is characterized by the fact that
the Länder shall have power to legislate as long as and to
the extent that the Federation has not exercised its
legislative power by enacting a law (Article 72(1) GG).
 the states retain legislative power and, in fact, use it,
especially when the Federal Government fails to do so.
 If the Federation has exercised its power, the Länder are
prohibited in their legislation.
 To the extent that a federal regulation is to be qualified
as exhaustive, the Länder may impose no additional
regulations in this area.
CONT’D
 Within concurrent legislation, however, there are certain
subject matters for which the Länder have been granted the
right to derogate from federal regulations (Article 72(3)
Basic Law).
 This is the case in the field of water management and water
protection, in the area of nature conservation and landscape
management as well as in the area of regional planning and
hunting.
 Concerning the items listed in the constitution under
concurrent powers, the Federal Government has full
legislative power, i.e. it can enact highly detailed laws.
 Furthermore, it is, as a rule, authorized to issue ordinances
and administrative decrees for a specific act, although only
if the act in question explicitly provides for this.
CONT’D
 Administrative decrees and ordinances play an important
part in specifying the complicated content of a law.
 They mostly concern material and procedural aspects.

 Sometimes they even establish the very core of a policy.

E.g. standards for ambient air quality and emissions
limits
 The "mother law" determines which institution is
allowed to issue an ordinance.
 This may be the Federal Government, a federal ministry, or a
state government.
CONT’D
 Administrative decrees are normally sought to serve as a
binding guideline only for public authorities, not the
general public, the addressees or the courts.
 Therefore, they are usually open to interpretation by the
courts as to whether or not they fulfill the statutory
requirements.
 However, some federal court decisions provide clarity
through interpretation
CONT’D

 E.g., in a widely observed case of conflict, the Federal

Administrative Court held (in the so-called Voerde
decision) that ambient air quality standards must also be
considered by the courts as the state of present scientific
knowledge.
 Consequently, they are to a high degree binding for courts
and open to interpretation only if the courts can prove that
certain substantial or procedural preconditions for standard-
setting (i.e., fixing ambient air quality standards) are not
fulfilled
CONT’D
 Local authorities have only limited legislative powers (to
issue so-called by-laws), derived from Art. 28, sec. 2 of
the federal constitution.
 However, it follows from the federal principle of the
constitution that local bodies are principally allowed to
legislate
 in matters for which the state in which the local authority is
located has been granted legislative power and
 if the tasks are strictly confined to their administrative area

 for preventive reasons and to ensure consistency of the

legal order, some sort of supervision has been established
 e.g. an obligation to request authorization from the state
government or merely the duty to inform it.
EXECUTIVE POWER
 Implementation and enforcement of both federal and state
environmental laws is the responsibility of administrative
agencies at the state level
 Only in very few areas, e.g. chemicals control
(screening/registration of chemicals), licensing of nuclear
power plants, and highway planning, is a federal agency
responsible or the state's agency acts as an "agent" of the
Federal Government.
 Inthis cases the state agency's activities are subject to
supervision.
CONT’D
 Implementation by the states includes:
 establishment of the organizational structure
 budget allocation
 granting permits and licences for the establishment,
enlargement or modification of industrial plants, power
plants, waste disposal sites, waste incineration plants,
transport of hazardous waste, discharge of effluents into
rivers and sewers etc.
 fixing levies and charges
 publication of environmental information and data
 establishment of emission/ambient air inventories
 designation of specific pollution control areas as well as
nature and water protection areas
 enforcement and punishment
CONT’D
 The Länder determine the relevant authorities to be
established and regulate the respective administrative
procedures.
 Even if the federal law contains regulations on
administrative procedure, Länder have the right to
deviate (Article 84 (1) Basic Law), unless federal law
transposes EU Directives.
 several important environmental laws grant the federal
government the power to issue general administrative
regulations to control the application of law
CONT’D
 In almost all areas the states are subject to federal control
only with regard to the correct application of laws
 The local authorities implement tasks under the self-
government principle explicitly granted by the
constitution (Art. 28, sec. 2 GG)
 Their legislative powers, which are not mentioned in the
constitution, are confined to issuing by-laws.
 Environment related by-laws usually deal with land-use
rules, charges for waste handling and sewage,
establishment of noise abatement zones, certain effluent
standards, waste management plans etc.
CONT’D
 The following are activities of local authorities that are
related to the environment:
 building and development planning
 waste management and urban cleansing
 traffic control
 construction and maintenance of local roads
 energy supply
 sewage networks (establishment and operation)

 Local authorities play an important role in the

implementation of environmental policy, both
 directly by fulfilling their environment-related responsibilities and
duties and
 indirectly by their development and land-use policies, which often
interfere with environmental protection goals.
CONT’D
 States may organize their administrative responsibilities
differently.
 In most cases, a three-tier administrative structure is
established
 lower administrative authority: city or county;
 middle administrative authority: regional management
authority;
 highest administrative authority: state ministry.

 The federal government supervises the Länder to ensure

that they execute federal laws in accordance with the law
(Article 84(3) Basic Law).
CONT’D

 It has the right to set up autonomous federal higher

authorities for matters on which the Federation is entitled
to legislate (Article 87(3) Basic Law).
 the Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt),
the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt
für Naturschutz) and the Federal Institute for Risk
Assessment (Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung) are
examples of such federal authorities that deal with
environmental issues.
 are mainly responsible for generating and distributing
information about environmental problems and risks,
 Also increasingly carry out executive tasks.
STRUCTURE AND SUBSTANCE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
 In Germany, environmental law has a comparatively long
tradition.
 Key environmental laws, such as the Federal Immission
Control Act (Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz) (1974), the
Federal Water Management Act (Wasserhaushaltsgesetz)
(1976), the Federal Nature Conservation Act
(Bundesnaturschutzgesetz) (1976), the Waste Disposal Act
(Abfallbeseitigungsgesetz) (1972) and the Chemicals Act
(Chemikaliengesetz) (1980), all date back to the 1970s
 They were not influenced by European and international
law,
CONT’D
 national environmental law is Europeanized to a very
high degree
 the EU only establishes minimum requirements in the
field of environmental policy so that stricter regulations
can be adopted at a national level
 Germany was and partly still is a ‘forerunner’ in many
respects, as highlighted, for instance, by the renewable
energy policies or the phasing-out of nuclear power.
CONT’D
 In parallel to early modern German environmental law,
basic principles of environmental law, such as the
precautionary principle and the polluter-pays principle,
began to develop particularly through case-law and legal
studies.
 Since the 1990s, various attempts were made to
amalgamate German environmental legislation into a
uniform environmental code (Umweltgesetzbuch).
 But failed for political reasons in 2008.
 Today, German environmental law therefore still consists
of numerous individual pieces of legislation.
CONT’D
 Air Pollution Control
 In Germany, air pollution did steadily decline;
 especially in the case of carbon monoxides (CO) and sulphur
oxides (SO2), the national air pollution policy was very
successful.
 However, several pollutants still pose significant issues,
such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), all mainly produced by
vehicle traffic or from agriculture such as ammonia
(NH3) and nitrous oxide (N2O).
 Little progress has been made in these areas since 2000
CONT’D
 Air pollution law is essentially integrated in the Federal
Immission Control Act
 it is also found in product-related regulations, like emission
standards for motor vehicles, set by EU law
 The Federal Immission Control Act dates to 1974 and was
amended numerous times
 aim is to protect humans and the environment against harmful
environmental impacts and other hazards as well as to prevent
damage to the environment
 determines harmful environmental effects as ‘emissions which,
according to their nature, extent or duration, are liable to cause
hazards, considerable disadvantages or considerable nuisance to
the general public or the neighborhood’
CONT’D
 According to the act, emissions are air pollutants, but also
noise, light, vibrations, beams and similar effects;
 The Act is, therefore, not only an air pollution control law
but also a noise reduction law and a law for the limitation
of electromagnetic fields generated by power lines or
mobile phone masts.
 Inspired by European law, air quality law is also enshrined
in the Act with the clean air plan as its central instrument
of coordination and control.
CONT’D
 The Regulation of Point Sources: Industrial
Installations Legislation
 The Federal Immission Control Act placed operators
under legal obligations, both to protect the environment
from harm and to take further preventive measures in
accordance with the technological state of the art.
 Compliance with these obligations is reviewed by the
competent authority in the licensing procedure and is
subject to continuous monitoring by the authorities.
CONT’D
 Climate Protection
 The federal government has set itself ambitious targets in its
climate and energy policy, which particularly applies in
combination with the phasing out of nuclear power plants by
2022.
 By 2020, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions shall be reduced by
40 per cent compared to the base year 1990.
 By 2015, however, only a reduction of 27.2 per cent had been
achieved
 Germany puts special emphasis on promoting and implementing
renewable energies in its climate protection policy
 the transformation of the electricity sector was particularly successful.
 It was essentially achieved by expanding onshore wind energy.
CONT’D
 an effective system of obligations and incentives for the
feed-in of renewable energies into the power grid was
anchored in the Renewable Energies Act (Erneuerbare-
Energien-Gesetz, EEG)
 The high growth in renewable energies is mainly due to
wind energy
 Water Legislation

 Water protection policy in Germany is broad-applies to

deal with waste water and protect groundwater.
CONT’D
 But, German water bodies are still far from in the good
state required by the EU Water Framework Directive
(WFD).
 European water quality targets considerably exceed the
existing German targets.
 The WFD-established approach to the management of
river basins also posed adaptation problems for reasons of
administrative competences of Länder.
 Subject to WHG—Federal Water Management Act
CONT’D
 Like air pollution control, water pollution protection has
been a success story for many years.
 This primarily concerned point sources for the discharge
of industrial and domestic sewage.
 In this respect, a powerful system for waste water
purification and control was established, composed of a
‘best available techniques’ approach and its effective
sub-statutory concretization of industry-specific
emission limits.
CONT’D
 The Act authorizes the federal government to determine
requirements for the discharge of waste water which are in
accordance with the best available techniques.
 Consequently, the federal government introduced the so-
called Waste Water Regulation (Abwasserverordnung),
which currently sets emission standards for fifty-seven
different economic sectors
 The German policy to protect groundwater was also
successful, in particular by protecting drinking water
supplies through the establishment of water protection
areas.
 More than 13,000 water protection areas occupying a total
of 43,000 km² were established by Länder governments
CONT’D
 In these areas, all activities which may have negative
effects on water, in particular intensive farming, are
prohibited.
 Farmers are paid a financial compensation for limiting
their agricultural activities (§ 52(5) WHG), which
ensures wide acceptance of this system.
 Traditional regulatory water protection is supplemented
by economic instruments in the form of environmental
water taxes.
 A sewage tax is levied for discharging sewage into water
bodies in order to charge for the residual pollution
 ‘water extraction fee’ is levied for the removal of water
from the natural water cycle.
CONT’D
 German water protection policy has largely failed, when it
comes to regulating agriculture, which is in various ways
responsible for the fact that water bodies are not in good
condition.
 Agriculture pollutes water significantly by putting nutrients
and pesticides into ground- and surface water
 the European Nitrate Directive established guidelines for
fertilizer application per unit of economic activity, but it is
difficult to monitor these guidelines.
 Some argue that these problems could be tackled by better
harmonizing water and agricultural policies at the European
level.
 Attempts to do so exist, but there is still no comprehensive
success.
CONT’D
 Avoidance, recovery and disposal of waste 
 Since its emergence in the 1970s, German waste legislation has developed
from a waste disposal law into a comprehensive recycling law.
 section 3 (1) 1 of the Closed Substance Cycle Act- “Waste is any material
or substance the possessor of which disposes, wants to dispose or must
dispose of.” 
 it sets obligations to primarily avoid waste or to recycle it

 The aim of the Act is to promote an economy based on closed-substance

cycles, thus conserving resources, and to guarantee the environmentally
sound disposal of waste.
 Wherever waste cannot be avoided, recovered or used to produce energy, it
must be removed from the cycle and, as a matter of principle, be disposed
of within Germany safely
 establishes requirements for safe recycling and allows disposal only if
recycling is technically not possible or is disproportionately expensive.
 The development of recycling legislation was significantly influenced by
European waste legislation.
CONT’D
 The Act includes provisions related to licensing of waste
disposal facilities, and licensing for the collection and
transportation of waste and for waste monitoring.
 It is complemented by the Waste Transportation Act
 German law prescribes very strict emission limits for waste
incinerators (19th BImSchV),
 as a result, fewer air pollutants are emitted

 Nature and Species Protection Legislation

 The protection of areas and species was strongly influenced

by international and European legislation as a result of
numerous international agreements and especially the
Habitat Directive 92/43/EEC.
 BNatSchG—Federal Nature Conservation Act
CONT’D
 Nuclear Legislation
 At the EU level, there is treaty- EURATOM Treaty-
aims to enable the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to
introduce the respective safety standards.
 But Germany made unilateral decision to phase out all
nuclear power stations
 exercise of sovereign powers
 Soil Protection
 federal legislation on soil protection

 Soil protection measures – either preventative or

remedial – are aimed at avoiding or reducing substance
inputs into the soil or removing already existing soil
damage
IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK-
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN GERMANY

 organizational structure of environmental protection in

Germany is described for the federal, state, and local
levels.
 At the federal level the Federal Ministry for the
Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety,
established in 1986.
 all 16 federal states have established a ministry mainly,
or exclusively, responsible for environmental matters.
 The state ministries for the environment are not
subordinate to the federal ministry.
CONT’D
 Inferred from the constitution, the Federal Government has
almost no powers to control the organization of policy-
making and the establishment of the implementation
systems at the state and local levels.
 the states (with some rare exceptions) are responsible for
the implementation and enforcement of federal laws.
 exception - the regulation of toxic substances under the
Federal Chemicals Act and the regulation of nuclear safety-
the responsibility of the federal implementation authorities
 Even in the area of siting of nuclear plants and radiation
protection where the Federal Government is granted
implementation powers most of the tasks have been
delegated to state authorities.
KEY INSTITUTIONS IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
AREA AT THE LEVEL OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

 Federal Ministry for the Environment, Protection of

Nature and Nuclear Safety
 General domains:
 developing regulations, guidelines, strategies
 international and supranational co-operation (co-operation in
the field of environment with international organizations,
other countries and the European Union)
 global environmental policies (e.g. programme on the
protection of the atmosphere)
 promotion of environmental technologies
 Providing environment related information to the public
CONT’D
 Specific domains:
 protection of water bodies and seas
 protection of ground water
 waste water treatment
 soil protection and clean-up of contaminated sites - waste
management: avoidance, recycling, disposal, incineration
 noise abatement
 protection of human health from toxic substances
 prevention of hazardous incidents at industrial plants
 nature conservation
 landscape protection and planning
 safety of nuclear installations protection from radiation
 disposal of nuclear waste
 air pollution prevention and clean-up
CONT’D
 most responsibilities with an indirect, but often strong, influence on
environmental matters remained with other ministries, e.g. The
Ministries of Agriculture, Transport, Public Health, and Regional
Planning,
Federal Agencies Related to Environmental Protection
 (a) Federal Environmental Agency

 reports to the Ministry of the Environment.

 Its key statutory mandates are:

 To provide scientific support to the Federal Government (e.g.. the Federal
Ministries for Environment; Health; Research; Transport, Building and
Urban Affairs);
 Implementation of environmental laws (e.g. emissions trading,
authorisation of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and plant protection agents)
 Information provision to the public about environmental protection (on the
basis of the Environmental Information Act and the Aarhus Convention)
 CONT’D
 B. The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation
 Main tasks:
 co-ordination and promotion of national and international nature
protection tasks
 support for planning and implementing responsibilities set out in
the Federal Nature Conservation Act, e.g. landscape planning,
 protection of designated areas and species,
 scientific support for the Federal Ministry of the Environment in
the area of nature conservation,
 implementation tasks/executive duties in the field of protection of
species (e.g. in the import and export of protected animals and
plants).
CONT’D
 (c) The Federal Office for Radiological Protection
 Main tasks;
 implementing the duties of the Federal Government
under the Atomic Energy Act and the Act on
Preventive Radiological Protection,
 e.g. questions of nuclear safety, transport of
radioactive substances, disposal of nuclear waste,
monitoring.
STATE LEVEL

 States organize independently their organizational and

implementation structure
 some states have established special environmental
protection ministries, others have ministries with
environmental protection as their main task but which
cover related areas (e.g. landscape planning, agriculture,
forestry, city planning).
 Most states have a three-tier administrative structure
(lowest level: local authorities, e.g. Gemeinde, Kreis;
intermediate level: regional authorities, e.g.
Regierungsbezirk; highest level: ministries).
CONT’D
 All levels have different implementation and enforcement
responsibilities.
 In some states, for example, authorities at the intermediate level
are responsible for issuing permits for plants which will cause
emissions; in other states, lower-level authorities are responsible
for this.
 Local Level

 According to Art. 28 of the federal constitution, the local

authorities have the right to self-administration.
 Their environment-related tasks include mandatory and voluntary
duties which they perform "in their own right" and others
delegated to them by state governments or the Federal
Government,
 The self-administrative responsibilities of the local authorities are
subject to control of the legality of their actions
THE COURT SYSTEM
 The German court system consists of different branches,
including constitutional jurisdiction, ordinary
jurisdiction (e.g. private and criminal law) and
specialized jurisdiction (administrative courts, etc.).
 Environmental disputes are brought before
administrative courts,
 whendecisions are questioned, or when certain sub-statutory
norms, such as legislative decrees, are legally reviewed.
CONT’D
 For this branch of the judiciary, the court of first instance
is usually the local administrative court
(Verwaltungsgericht)
 and in most cases, judgments may be appealed to the
higher administrative court.
 if questions of fundamental rights or other constitutional
guaranties of the Basic Law are at stake, the Federal
Constitutional Court will be in charge
THE ROLE OF THE NON-
GOVERNMENTAL SECTOR
 the German regulatory approach always contained some
forms of corporate self-regulation.
 This especially applies for industrial standards

 The network of industry and commerce associations in

Germany ranges from umbrella organizations to specific
sector organizations and Länder sub-groupings.
 Many have environmental committees focusing on
environmental management standards and sectorial best-
practice guidelines.
 They provide environmental information to their members
and advise on legislative requirements.
CONT’D
 Change from simply opposing environmental regulation
to a trilateral cooperative approach between government,
industry and environmental organizations.
 the production of environmental protection technology
has become a significant industrial sector and
environmentally related employment has increased
 industry associations were instrumental in developing an
increased number of industry-wide self-commitments or
voluntary agreements
 concerned with promotion of the Environmental Management
Audit Scheme
ENVIRONMENTAL NGOS AND CSOS
 Concerning the involvement of civil society, the Aarhus
Convention and its adoption by European legislation via
Directive 2003/35/EC led to significant change.
 It contributed to the fact that not only government
authorities and project managers, but also the public is
involved in environmental decision-making
procedures.
 access to courts was significantly improved in
environmental matters
 Germany has a complex network of organized interest
groups in the environment sector.
CONT’D
 In 2001, the number of environmental groups is
estimated at a total of 400.
 Environmental organizations have been a strong driving
force, both for environmental policy integration and a
German strategy for sustainable development.
 the four largest organizations (BUND, Greenpeace,
NABU, WWF) have been engaged in sustainable
development initiatives at the federal level through
representatives at conferences and workshops, and in the
working groups during the planning process for the draft
programme for sustainable development in 1998.
ALTERNATIVE ASSIGNMENT TOPIC
 Public Interest Litigation in Environmental Matters: a
comparative perspective