Regional Workshop Environmental Crime/Environmental ... - RENA

Request for action
� Natural or legal persons who may be adversely affected by
environmental damage and NGOs can ask competent
authorities to act when faced with damage
� Review procedures have to be provided to check the
lawfulness of the decisions and actions or to state the
authorities´ failure to act
� In Austria and Germany as well as in other EU MS the role
of the public in initiating environmental liability cases has
been strenghened through the transpostion of the
Environmental Liability Directive.
Cooperation between member states
� Where damage or threat of damage may affect more than
one Member State, the states concerned must cooperate on
the preventive or remedial action to be taken
� Provisions might become more relevant in the future: Most
relevant for transboundary water pollution of rivers, including
affection of protected areas, e.g. Red mud case/Hungary
� Not applicable for transboundary air pollution cases,
as air pollution is not covered by the Directive
Member State Experience: Germany I
Law on Environmental Liability from 1990:
� Civil law liability
� Covering personal damage (death, injury)
� Defining maximum amounts for liability
� Access to information for affected parties
� “Permit defense” in case of material damage
� Narrow scope and therefore not many cases
� Financial security obligatory
RENA Activity 1.2 RISP 1st Regional Workshop, 30-31 May 2011, Zagreb, Croatia
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