The EU’s environmental policy are among the most comprehensive ones at the international level. In spite of this, their proper implementation is often lagging behind. Experience throughout the EU Member States suggests that public authorities alone cannot address this deficit in implementation. Accordingly, empowered citizens and trained actors representing the entire legal chain with extended knowledge about access to justice are vital to enable more effective implementation – something that the A2J EARL project focused on.
The “Access to Justice for a greener Europe” (A2J EARL) LIFE project main aims were to improve the implementation and enforcement of EU environmental law between 2017-2020 in eight EU Member States (Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Spain). The project enhanced knowledge about access to justice of legal professionals including judiciary, non-profit organisations, public and private interest lawyers and public administrators through capacity building materials and events. To analyse the impact of the project, relevant data were collected from a standardized national data sheet, interviews and surveys of the project partners, events’ evaluation forms and a desktop research on internet trends. Based on a set of indicators, we also compared planned project commitments to achieved results. We found significant contributions to increasing awareness and knowledge of access to justice along with triggering attitude change among legal professionals, influencing relevant policy, communicating effectively project results to the wider audience and improving skills and capacities.
Find out more about the project here: https://www.clientearth.org/projects/access-to-justice-for-a-greener-europe/
