What Room for the 1998 Aarhus Convention in the European Green Deal? An Analysis of the Possible Reluctance of the Court of Justice

Both the Court of Justice’ case-law and part of EU institutions’ secondary legislation have been found in violation of the 1998 Aarhus Convention’s requirements on access to justice in environmental matters. For the European Green Deal to succeed both for the EU and its citizens not only should the Commission grant wide and consistent public engagement in the promotion and implementation of environmental policies and legislations, but it should also ensure adequate enforcement of EU environmental law. The aim of this contribution is, therefore, to explore some emblematic elements of noncompliance stemming from, respectively, the Court’s «overly rigid» jurisprudence and from EU implementation of the Aarhus Convention to assess whether the Commission’s efforts to improve EU and its Member States’ implementation of the Convention are sufficient to the purpose of the European Green Deal.