Empowering Civil Engagement: Legal Frameworks for Environmental Participation

The third, and final day of the Conference “When the Law Takes Over” brought fruitful discussions on public participation in permitting procedures and different challenges in implementation of environmental impact assessment. 

Associate Professor of European Administrative and European Environmental Law, Vasiliki Karageorgou, Nikola Kitarović from Association of Judges in Serbia, Željka Leljak Gracin, Legal Advisor at Green Action, Croatia and Jovan Rajić, Lawyer and President of RERI’s Board, explored civil society’s legal standing in permitting procedures. 

In the second panel, Aleksandra Bujaroska, Environmental Expert from Energy Community, Željka Leljak Gracin, Legal Advisor at Green Action and Hristina Vojvodić, Senior Legal Advisor at RERI addressed project splitting and implementation challenges in environmental impact assessment.

The panelists provided enriching insights from court and administrative practices in the region, giving overview of different regulatory frameworks, legal argumentations, and positive and negative practice examples. The sessions initiated vivid discussions and experience exchange among all participants, highlighting the following: 

➡ Implementation of the Aarhus convention and  procedural legal standing is crucial for ensuring access to justice for  individuals and environmental CSOs. Access to justice and public participation in environmental matters is closely related to the rule of law.

➡Although there are improvements in the court practice when it comes to the legal standing of CSOs in permitting procedures, administrative and court authorities are still taking a more narrow approach when interpreting legal standing of CSOs.

➡ In Serbia, the landscape is such that the efforts to protect the environment, combat climate change and protect cultural assets have been reduced to one much more complicated process — tackling corruption. 

➡ Investors use “salami slicing” to avoid lengthy procedures and save money. Even the authorities endorse salami slicing to expedite project implementation and attract foreign investments.

➡ The most effective strategies to combat project splitting include precise definitions and legal framework. In the implementation phase it would be challenging projects during the screening phase and contesting the environmental impact assessment study itself. A proper evaluation of the cumulative effects of all projects in a particular area would offer a ‘second best’ solution to counteract project splitting. An effective illustration of how experiences and knowledge in environmental law can be shared more readily is through the establishment of a network of environmental lawyers.

➡ The major issue is the lack of quality of environmental impact assessment studies in the region. In order to tackle this issue it is of the utmost importance to ensure the responsibility of the study developers, and responsible authorities.