Access to EU environmental information: EU compliance with Aarhus Convention

This article examines the relationship between the EU Access to Document Regulation (1049/2001/EC), the Aarhus Regulation (1367/2006/EC) and the provisions of the UNECE Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. It considers the extent to which the combined provisions of the EU regulations succeed in aligning EU law with the access to environmental information provisions of the Convention. The focus of the examination is on the exceptions to disclosure and the differences between the Convention and the EU legislation will be analysed. It will be argued that not only does the EU legislation lack coherence and clarity but also that the combined provisions breach the Convention in a number of key respects.