Key Benefits:
President of the Republic,
On the report of the Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Considering articles 52 to 55 of the Constitution;
Having regard to Act No. 2002-285 of 28 February 2002 authorizing the approval of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (as a whole two annexes), made in Aarhus on 25 June 1998;
Having regard to the amended Decree No. 53-192 of 14 March 1953 concerning the ratification and publication of the international commitments undertaken by France;
Having regard to Decree No. 98-911 of 5 October 1998 on the publication of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, made in Helsinki on 17 March 1992;
In view of Decree No. 2001-1176 of 5 December 2001 on the publication of the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, made in Espoo on 25 February 1991,
Decrete:
The Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (two annexes), made in Aarhus on 25 June 1998, will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
The Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs are responsible for the execution of this Order, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
C O N V E N T I O N
ON INFORMATION ACCESS, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN DECISIONAL PROCESS AND THE CASE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE (SECOND APPENDIX)
The Parties to this Convention,
Recalling the first principle of the Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment,
Recalling also principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development,
Recalling further General Assembly resolutions 37/7 of 28 October 1982 on the World Charter of Nature and 45/94 of 14 December 1990 on the need to ensure a healthy environment for the well-being of everyone,
Recalling also the European Charter on Environment and Health adopted at the First European Conference on Environment and Health, held under the auspices of the World Health Organization in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on 8 December 1989,
Affirming the need to protect, preserve and improve the state of the environment and to ensure sustainable and environmentally sound development,
Recognizing that adequate protection of the environment is essential to the well-being of man and to the enjoyment of fundamental rights, including the right to life itself,
Recognizing also that everyone has the right to live in an environment that ensures their health and well-being and the duty, both individually and in association with others, to protect and improve the environment in the interest of present and future generations,
Considering that in order to be able to assert this right and to fulfil this duty, citizens must have access to information, be empowered to participate in the decision-making process and have access to environmental justice, provided that they may need assistance in exercising their rights,
Recognizing that, in the field of the environment, better access to information and increased public participation in decision-making can make better decisions and apply them more effectively, contribute to raising public awareness of environmental issues, give the public the opportunity to express their concerns and help public authorities to give due consideration to environmental issues,
Seeking thus to promote respect for the principle of accountability and transparency of decision-making and to ensure greater public support for environmental decisions,
Recognizing the desirability of transparency in all branches of public administration and inviting legislative bodies to apply the principles of this Convention in their work,
Recognizing also that the public must be aware of procedures for participation in environmental decision-making, have free access and know how to use them,
Recognizing further the important role that citizens, non-governmental organizations and the private sector can play in environmental protection,
Desiring to promote environmental education in order to better understand the environment and sustainable development and to encourage the general public to pay attention to decisions that have an impact on the environment and sustainable development and to participate in these decisions,
Noting, in this regard, that it is important to use the media as well as electronic communication modes and other communication modes that will appear in the future,
Acknowledging that it is important for governments to take fully into account environmental considerations in their decision-making processes and that public authorities must therefore have accurate, detailed and up-to-date information on the environment,
Knowing that public authorities hold environmental information in the general interest,
Wishing that the public, including organizations, have access to effective judicial mechanisms so that their legitimate interests are protected and the law respected,
Noting that it is important to properly inform consumers on products to enable them to make environmentally sound choices,
Aware of the public's concern about the voluntary dissemination of genetically modified organisms in the environment and the need to increase transparency and enhance public participation in decision-making in this area,
Convinced that the application of this Convention will contribute to strengthening democracy in the region of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE),
Aware of the role played by the EWC in this regard and recalling, inter alia, the EWC Directives on Access to Information on the Environment and Public Participation in Environmental Decision-making, approved in the Ministerial Declaration adopted at the Third Ministerial Conference on the theme "An Environment for Europe", in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 25 October 1995,
Taking into account the relevant provisions of the Convention on the Assessment of Environmental Impact in a Transboundary Context, adopted at Espoo (Finland) on 25 February 1991, as well as the Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents and the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, adopted both at Helsinski on 17 March 1992 and other regional conventions,
Recognizing that the adoption of this Convention will only contribute to the strengthening of the "Environment for Europe" process and to the success of the Fourth Ministerial Conference to be held in Aarhus (Denmark) in June 1998,
agreed that:
Article 1
Subject
In order to help protect the right of everyone, in present and future generations, to live in an environment that ensures their health and well-being, each Party shall guarantee the rights of access to environmental information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in accordance with the provisions of this Convention.
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Convention,
1. The term "Party" means, unless otherwise specified, a Contracting Party to this Convention.
2. The term "public authority" means:
(a) Public administration at the national or regional level or at another level;
(b) natural or legal persons who exercise, under domestic law, public administrative functions, including specific tasks, activities or services related to the environment;
(c) Any other natural or legal person performing public responsibilities or functions or providing public services related to the environment under the authority of an organ or person entering the categories referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b) above;
(d) Institutions of any regional economic integration organization referred to in Article 17 which is a Party to this Convention.
This definition does not include organs or institutions acting in the exercise of judicial or legislative powers.
3. The term "Environment Information(s)" refers to any information available in written, visual, oral or electronic form or in any other material form, covering:
(a) The state of the environment such as air and atmosphere, water, soil, lands, landscape and natural sites, biological diversity and its components, including genetically modified organisms, and the interaction between these elements;
(b) Factors such as substances, energy, noise and radiation, and activities or measures, including administrative measures, environmental agreements, policies, laws, plans and programs that have, or are likely to have, impacts on environmental elements under paragraph (a) above and cost-benefit analysis and other economic analyses and assumptions used in environmental decision-making;
(c) The state of human health, its security and living conditions, as well as the state of cultural sites and constructions to the extent that they are, or are likely to be, altered by the state of the elements of the environment or, through these elements, by the factors, activities or measures referred to in paragraph (b) above.
4. The term "public" means one or more natural or legal persons and, in accordance with the laws or customs of the country, associations, organizations or groups constituted by such persons.
5. The term "public concerned" means the public that is affected or is likely to be affected by environmental decisions or that has an interest in the decision-making process; for the purposes of this definition, non-governmental organizations that work for the protection of the environment and meet the conditions that may be required under domestic law are deemed to have an interest.
Article 3
General provisions
1. Each Party shall take the necessary legislative, regulatory or other measures, including measures to ensure the compatibility of the provisions giving effect to the provisions of this Convention relating to information, public participation and access to justice, as well as appropriate enforcement measures, in order to establish and maintain a clear, transparent and consistent framework for the purposes of the provisions of this Convention.
2. Each Party shall endeavour to ensure that public servants and authorities assist the public and provide advice to enable it to have access to information, to participate more easily in decision-making and to bring justice to the environment.
3. Each Party promotes public environmental education and raises awareness of environmental issues, including how to access information, participate in decision-making and seize environmental justice.
4. Each Party shall give due recognition and support to associations, organizations or groups that have the objective of environmental protection and ensure that its national legal system is consistent with that obligation.
5. The provisions of this Convention shall not affect the right of the Parties to continue to apply or adopt, instead of the measures provided for in this Convention, measures to ensure greater access to information, greater public participation in decision-making and wider access to environmental justice.
6. Nothing in this Convention requires the derogation of existing rights relating to access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters.
7. Each Party shall work in favour of the application of the principles set out in this Convention in international environmental decision-making processes and in the context of international organizations when it comes to environmental matters.
8. Each Party shall ensure that persons exercising their rights in accordance with the provisions of this Convention are in no way penalized, persecuted or subjected to vexatious measures because of their action. This provision does not in any way affect the power of national courts to grant costs of a reasonable amount following a judicial process.
9. Within the scope of the relevant provisions of this Convention, the public has access to information, the public has the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process and has access to environmental justice without discrimination based on citizenship, nationality or domicile and, in the case of a legal person, without discrimination regarding the place where it has its official seat or a real activity centre.
Article 4
Access to environmental information
1. Each Party shall ensure that, subject to the following paragraphs of this article, public authorities shall make available to the public, within the framework of their national legislation, information on the environment requested to them, including, if requested and subject to paragraph (b) below, copies of the documents in which such information is actually recorded, whether or not these documents contain other information:
(a) Without public interest;
(b) In the form requested unless:
(i) That it be reasonable for the public authority to communicate the information in question in another form, in which case the reasons for that choice must be indicated;
or
(ii) That the information in question has already been made public in another form.
2. The information on the environment referred to in paragraph 1 above shall be made available to the public as soon as possible and no later than one month from the date on which the application was submitted, unless the volume and complexity of the information requested warrant an extension of the time limit, which may be extended to a maximum of two months. The applicant is informed of any extension of the time limit and the reasons for the extension.
3. An environmental information request may be refused if:
(a) The public authority to which the application is addressed is not in possession of the requested information;
(b) The request is manifestly abusive or too general; or
(c) The application covers documents that are in the process of development or concerns internal communications from the public authorities provided that this exception is provided by domestic law or custom, taking into account the public interest in the disclosure of the requested information.
4. A request for information on the environment may be rejected if the disclosure of this information would have an adverse impact on:
(a) The secrecy of the deliberations of public authorities, when this secret is provided by domestic law;
(b) International relations, national defence or public security;
(c) The good march of justice, the possibility for any person to be judged equitably or the ability of a public authority to conduct a criminal or disci-partisan investigation;
(d) Commercial and industrial secrecy when this secret is protected by law in order to defend a legitimate economic interest. In this context, information on emissions that are relevant to environmental protection must be disclosed;
(e) Intellectual property rights;
(f) Confidentiality of personal data and/or records relating to a natural person if such person has not consented to the disclosure of such information to the public, where the confidential nature of such information is provided by domestic law;
(g) The interests of a third party who provided the requested information without being compelled by law or without the law being compelled to do so and who does not consent to the disclosure of that information; or
(h) The environment on which information is carried, such as rare species breeding sites.
The above reasons for rejection should be interpreted in a restrictive manner in view of the public interest in the disclosure of the requested information and whether or not this information relates to emissions in the environment.
5. If a public authority is not in possession of the information on the requested environment, it shall inform the applicant as quickly as possible of the request to which public authority it may, to its knowledge, address to obtain the information in question or transmits the request to that authority and informs the applicant.
6. Each Party shall ensure that, if it is possible, without compromising its confidentiality, to separate the information on the requested environment that, under paragraph 3 (c) and paragraph 4 above, does not have to be disclosed, other information on the requested environment, the public authorities shall communicate the information.
7. The rejection of a request for information shall be notified in writing if the request has been made in writing or if the applicant requests a written response. In the notification of rejection, the public authority shall set out the grounds for such rejection and shall inform the applicant of the application under Article 9. The rejection of the application shall be notified as soon as possible and no later than one month, unless the complexity of the requested information justifies an extension of this period, which may be extended to a maximum of two months. The applicant is informed of any extension of the time limit and the reasons for the extension.
8. Each Party may authorize public authorities providing information to collect a right for that service, but that right shall not exceed a reasonable amount. The public authorities intending to pay the information they provide make the authors of the requests for information aware of the scale of fees to be paid, indicating the cases in which they may waive their rights and those in which the communication of information is subject to their prior payment.
Article 5
Gathering and disseminating information
on the environment
1. Each Party shall:
(a) That public authorities possess and maintain environmental information that is useful for the performance of their functions;
(b) That mandatory mechanisms be put in place to ensure that public authorities are properly informed of proposed or ongoing activities that may have significant environmental impacts;
(c) In the event of an imminent threat to health or the environment, whether due to human activities or due to natural causes, all information that may enable the public to take action to prevent or limit any damage that may be in the possession of a public authority shall be released immediately and without delay to persons who may be affected.
2. Each Party shall ensure that, within the framework of national legislation, public authorities make information on the environment available to the public in a transparent manner and that such information is actually accessible, including:
(a) By providing sufficient information to the public on the type and content of environmental information held by the competent public authorities, on the main conditions under which such information is made available and accessible to the public, and on the procedure to be followed for obtaining such information;
(b) By taking and maintaining practical arrangements, for example:
(i) By establishing lists, records or files accessible to the public;
(ii) By requiring public servants to assist the public seeking access to information under this Convention; and
(iii) Designating points of contact; and
(c) By providing free access to environmental information in the lists, records or files referred to in paragraph b i above.
3. Each Party shall ensure that environmental information becomes progressively available in electronic databases to which the public can easily access through public telecommunications networks. The following information should be available in this form:
(a) The state of the environment reports referred to in paragraph 4 below;
(b) Environmental or environmental legislation;
(c) Where applicable, environmental or environmental policies, plans and programs and environmental agreements; and
(d) Further information, to the extent that the possibility of obtaining such information would facilitate the application of national legislation to give effect to this Convention, provided that such information is already available in electronic form.
4. Each Party shall publish and disseminate at regular intervals not exceeding three or four years a national report on the state of the environment, including information on the quality of the environment and information on the constraints on the environment.
5. Each Party shall take measures, within its legislation, to disseminate, inter alia:
(a) Law texts and policy documents such as documents on strategies, policies, programmes and action plans relating to the environment and reports on their implementation, prepared at different levels of public administration;
(b) International treaties, conventions and agreements on environmental issues; and
(c) Where applicable, other important international documents dealing with environmental issues.
6. Each Party shall encourage operators whose activities have a significant impact on the environment to periodically inform the public of the environmental impact of their activities and products, if any, through voluntary eco-labelling or eco-labeling programs or other means.
7. Each Party:
(a) Make public the facts and analyses of the facts it considers relevant and important to develop proposals for essential environmental measures;
(b) Publish or otherwise make available the available documents explaining how it deals with the public in cases under this Convention; and
(c) Provides appropriate information on how the administration, at all levels, performs public functions or provides public services related to the environment.
8. Each Party shall develop mechanisms to ensure that sufficient product information is made available to the public so that consumers can make informed environmental choices.
9. Each Party shall take steps to progressively implement, as appropriate, international processes, a coherent national system of identification or recording of pollution data in a structured and publicly accessible computerized database, which is collected through standardized reporting formats. This system may take into account the inputs, releases and transfers in the various environments and in the treatment and disposal sites on the site and outside the site of a given series of substances and products resulting from a given series of activities, including water, energy and resources used for these activities.
10. Nothing in this Article shall affect the right of the Parties to refuse to disclose certain environmental information in accordance with Article 4, paragraphs 3 and 4.
Article 6
Public participation in decisions
special activities
1. Each Party:
(a) Applies the provisions of this Article when deciding whether or not to authorize the proposed activities of the type listed in Appendix I;
(b) Also applies the provisions of this section, in accordance with its domestic law, when making a decision on proposed activities not listed in Schedule I that may have a significant impact on the environment. Parties shall determine in each case whether the proposed activity falls under these provisions;
(c) May decide, on a case-by-case basis, if so provided by domestic law, not to apply the provisions of this article to proposed activities that meet the needs of national defence if that Party considers that this application would be contrary to those needs.
2. When an environmental decision-making process is initiated, the public concerned is informed, in an effective and timely manner, by a notice to the public or individually, as appropriate, at the beginning of the process. The information includes:
(a) The proposed activity, including the corresponding request for a decision to be taken;
(b) The nature of decisions or draft decision that could be adopted;
(c) The public authority responsible for making the decision;
(d) The procedure envisaged, including in cases where such information may be provided:
(i) The date it begins;
(ii) The opportunities available to the public to participate;
(iii) The date and place of any planned public hearing;
(iv) The public authority to which it is possible to seek relevant information and to which such information has been filed so that the public can examine it;
(v) The public authority or any other competent public body to which comments or questions may be addressed and the deadline for the submission of comments or questions;
(vi) Information on the environment related to the proposed activity available; and
(e) The fact that the activity is subject to a national or transboundary environmental impact assessment procedure.
3. For the various stages of the public participation procedure, reasonable time limits are provided to allow sufficient time to inform the public in accordance with paragraph 2 above and to ensure that the public prepares and participates effectively in the work throughout the environmental decision-making process.
4. Each Party shall make arrangements for public participation to begin at the beginning of the proceedings, i.e. when all options and solutions are still possible and the public may exercise real influence.
5. Each Party should, where appropriate, encourage anyone intending to file an application for authorization to identify the public concerned, to inform the public about the purpose of the application that it is considering to present and engage the discussion with the public concerned before filing its application.
6. Each Party shall request the competent public authorities to ensure that the public concerned may consult upon request when domestic law so requires, and free of charge, as soon as available, all information of interest to the decision-making process referred to in this article that may be obtained at the time of the public participation procedure, without prejudice to the right of the Parties to refuse to disclose certain information in accordance with paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 4. The relevant information shall include at least and without prejudice to the provisions of Article 4:
(a) A description of the site and the physical and technical characteristics of the proposed activity, including an estimate of the waste and planned emissions;
(b) A description of the important effects of the proposed activity on the environment;
(c) A description of the measures envisaged to prevent and/or reduce these effects, including emissions;
(d) A non-technical summary of the above;
(e) An overview of the main alternatives considered by the author of the application for authorization; and
(f) In accordance with national legislation, the main reports and notices sent to the public authority at the time the public concerned must be informed in accordance with paragraph 2 above.
7. The public participation procedure provides the opportunity for the public to submit in writing or, as appropriate, in a public hearing or inquiry involving the applicant any comments, information, analysis or opinions that it considers relevant to the proposed activity.
8. Each Party shall ensure that, at the time of its decision, the results of the public participation procedure shall be duly taken into account.
9. Each Party shall also ensure that, once the decision has been made by the public authority, the public is promptly informed of the decision in accordance with the appropriate procedures. Each Party shall communicate to the public the text of the decision with the reasons and considerations on which the decision is based.
10. Each Party shall ensure that, where a public authority reviews or updates the conditions under which an activity referred to in paragraph 1, the provisions of paragraphs 2 to 9 of this article apply mutatis mutandis where applicable.
11. Each Party shall, within the framework of its domestic law, to the extent possible and appropriate, apply the provisions of this article in deciding whether to authorize the voluntary release of genetically modified organisms into the environment.
Article 7
Public participation in plans,
environmental programs and policies
Each Party shall make the practical and/or other arrangements necessary for the public to participate in the development of plans and programmes relating to the environment in a transparent and equitable manner, after providing the necessary information. In this context, paragraphs 3, 4 and 8 of section 6 apply. The public likely to participate shall be designated by the competent public authority, taking into account the objectives of this Convention. Each Party shall make every effort to provide the public with the opportunity to participate in the development of environmental policies.
Article 8
Public participation in the development phase of regulatory provisions and/or legally binding normative instruments of general application
Each Party shall promote effective public participation at an appropriate stage - and as long as the options are still open - during the phase of the development by public authorities of the regulatory provisions and other legally binding rules of general application that may have an important impact on the environment. To this end, the following steps should be taken:
(a) Setting sufficient deadlines to allow effective participation;
(b) Publish a draft rules or make it available to the public by other means; and
(c) Provide the public with the opportunity to make comments either directly or through representative advisory bodies.
The results of public participation are considered to the extent possible.
Article 9
Access to justice
1. Each Party shall ensure, within the framework of its national legislation, that any person who considers that the request for information submitted pursuant to Article 4 has been ignored, improperly rejected, in whole or in part, or insufficiently taken into account or has not been dealt with in accordance with the provisions of this Article, has the opportunity to appeal to a judicial body or other independent and impartial body established by law.
In cases where a Party provides for such a remedy before a court, it shall ensure that the person concerned also has access to a prompt procedure established by law that is free or low costly, with a view to reviewing the application by a public authority or its examination by an independent and impartial body other than a judicial body.
The final decisions made under this paragraph 1 are binding on the public authority that holds the information. The reasons for this are indicated in writing, at least when access to information is denied under this paragraph.
2. Each Party shall ensure, within its national legislation, that members of the public concerned
(a) having sufficient interest in acting
or, otherwise,
(b) claiming an infringement of a right, where the administrative procedure code of a Party makes such a condition, may appeal to a judicial body and/or another independent and impartial body established by law to disprove the substantive and procedural legality of any decision, act or omission that falls under the provisions of Article 6 and, if domestic law so provides and without prejudice to paragraph 3 below,
What constitutes an adequate interest and an infringement of a right is determined in accordance with the provisions of domestic law and in accordance with the objective of granting the public concerned wide access to justice under this Convention. For this purpose, the interest of any non-governmental organization meeting the conditions referred to in paragraph 5 of section 2 is deemed to be sufficient within the meaning of paragraph (a) below. These organizations are also deemed to have rights that could be infringed within the meaning of paragraph (b) above.
The provisions of this paragraph 2 do not exclude the possibility of making a preliminary appeal before an administrative authority and do not exempt from the obligation to exhaust administrative remedies prior to the commencement of judicial proceedings where such an obligation is provided for in domestic law.
3. In addition, and without prejudice to the appeal procedures referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 above, each Party shall ensure that members of the public who meet the possible criteria set out in its domestic law may initiate administrative or judicial proceedings to challenge acts or omissions of individuals or public authorities contrary to the provisions of national environmental law.
4. In addition, and without prejudice to paragraph 1, the procedures referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 above shall provide sufficient and effective remedies, including injunction relief, as appropriate, and shall be objective, fair and expeditious without prohibitive cost. Decisions taken under this article shall be delivered or recorded in writing. Court decisions and, as far as possible, those of other bodies must be accessible to the public.
5. In order to make the provisions of this Article even more effective, each Party shall ensure that the public is informed of the opportunity to initiate administrative or judicial proceedings, and shall consider the establishment of appropriate assistance mechanisms to eliminate or reduce financial or other barriers that impede access to justice.
Article 10
Meeting of the Parties
1. The first meeting of the Parties shall be convened no later than one year after the date of entry into force of this Convention. Subsequently, the Parties shall hold a regular meeting at least once every two years, unless they decide otherwise, or if any of them so requests in writing, provided that this request is supported by at least one third of the Parties within six months of its submission to all Parties by the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe.
2. At their meetings, the Parties shall continuously monitor the implementation of this Convention on the basis of regular reports from Parties and, with this objective in mind:
(a) Consider the policies they apply and the legal and methodological approaches they follow to ensure access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters with a view to further improving the situation in this regard;
(b) The lessons they learn from the conclusion and application of bilateral and multilateral agreements or other arrangements that relate to the purpose of this Convention, to which one or more of them are Parties;
(c) Provide, where appropriate, the services of the relevant ECE bodies, as well as other relevant international bodies or special committees for all matters to be taken into account in achieving the objectives of this Convention;
(d) Establish subsidiary bodies if deemed necessary;
(e) Develop, where appropriate, protocols to this Convention;
(f) Consider and adopt proposals to amend this Convention in accordance with the provisions of Article 14;
(g) Consider and undertake any other action that may be necessary for the purposes of this Convention;
(h) At their first meeting, consider and adopt by consensus the rules of procedure for their meetings and meetings of subsidiary bodies;
(i) At their first meeting, consider the lessons they learn from the application of the provisions of Article 5, paragraph 9, and consider the necessary measures to improve the system covered by these provisions, taking into account the applicable procedures and developments at the international level, including the development of an appropriate instrument for the establishment of pollutant release registers or inventories that could be annexed to this Convention.
3. The Meeting of the Parties may, if necessary, consider establishing financial arrangements by consensus.
4. The United Nations, its specialized agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as any State or regional economic integration organization that is authorized under Article 17 to sign the Convention but is not a Party to that Convention, and any intergovernmental organization that has competence in areas related to this Convention shall be authorized to participate as observers in meetings of the Parties.
5. Any non-governmental organization that has expertise in areas related to this Convention and has communicated to the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe that it wished to be represented at a meeting of the Parties is authorized to participate as an observer unless at least one third of the Parties objected to it.
6. For the purposes of paragraphs 4 and 5 above, the rules of procedure referred to in paragraph 2 (h) above provides for the practical terms and conditions of admission and other relevant conditions.
Article 11
Voting rights
1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 below, each Party to this Convention shall have one vote.
2. In areas falling within their competence, regional economic integration organizations shall have, in order to exercise their right to vote, a number of votes equal to the number of their member States that are Parties to this Convention. These organizations do not exercise their right to vote if their member states exercise their own, and vice versa.
Article 12
Secretariat
The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe acts as the following secretariat:
(a) It convenes and prepares meetings of the Parties;
(b) It shall transmit to the Parties the reports and other information received under the provisions of this Convention; and
(c) It performs other functions that Parties may assign to it.
Article 13
Annexes
The annexes to this Convention are an integral part of the Convention.
Article 14
Amendments to the Convention
1. Any Party may propose amendments to this Convention.
2. The text of any proposed amendments to this Convention shall be submitted in writing to the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe, who shall communicate it to all Parties at least ninety days before the meeting of the Parties at which the amendment is proposed for adoption.
3. Parties shall make every effort to reach agreement by consensus on any amendment proposed to this Convention. If all efforts in this direction have remained in vain and no agreement has been reached, the amendment shall be adopted as a last resort by a three-fourths majority vote of the Parties present and voting.
4. Amendments to this Convention adopted pursuant to paragraph 3 above shall be submitted by the Depositary to all Parties for ratification, approval or acceptance. Amendments to this Convention other than those relating to an annex shall enter into force with respect to Parties that have ratified, approved or accepted them on the ninetieth day after the Depositary receives notification of ratification, approval or acceptance by at least three quarters of those Parties. Subsequently, they come into force with respect to any other Party on the ninetieth day following the deposit by that Party of its instrument of ratification, approval or acceptance of the amendments.
5. Any Party that is unable to approve an amendment to an annex to this Convention shall notify the Depositary in writing within twelve months after the date of the communication of its adoption. The Depositary shall promptly inform all Parties of the receipt of such notification. A Party may at any time substitute an acceptance for its earlier notification and, after the deposit of an instrument of acceptance with the Depositary, the amendments to that Annex shall enter into force with respect to that Party.
6. Upon the expiration of a period of twelve months from the date of communication by the Depositary referred to in paragraph 4 above, any amendment to an annex shall enter into force with respect to Parties that have not submitted a notification to the Depositary in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 5 above, provided that no more than one third of the Parties has submitted that notification.
7. For the purposes of this Article, the term "Parties present and voting" means Parties present at the meeting that issue an affirmative or negative vote.
Article 15
Review of compliance
The Meeting of the Parties shall, by consensus, adopt optional arrangements of a non-conflict, non-judicial and consultative nature to consider compliance with the provisions of this Convention. These arrangements allow for appropriate public participation and may provide for the opportunity to consider communications from members of the public on matters related to this Convention.
Article 16
Settlement of disputes
1. If a dispute arises between two or more Parties with respect to the interpretation or application of this Convention, these Parties shall endeavour to resolve it by negotiation or by any other means of dispute resolution that they consider acceptable.
2. When signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to this Convention, or at any time thereafter, a Party may serve in writing to the Depositary that, for disputes that have not been settled in accordance with paragraph 1 above, it agrees to consider as mandatory one of the two or two means of settlement below in its relations with any Party accepting the same obligation:
(a) Submission of the dispute to the International Court of Justice;
(b) Arbitration, in accordance with the procedure set out in Appendix II.
3. If the Parties to the dispute have accepted the two means of dispute resolution referred to in paragraph 2 above, the dispute may be submitted only to the International Court of Justice, unless the Parties agree otherwise.
Article 17
Signature
This Convention shall be open for signature by the States members of the Economic Commission for Europe as well as by the States with consultative status with the Economic Commission for Europe pursuant to paragraphs 8 and 11 of Economic and Social Council resolution 36 (IV) of 28 March 1947, and by regional economic integration organizations constituted by sovereign States, members of the Economic Commission for Europe, who have transferred competence to them for matters covered by this Convention,
Article 18
Depositary
The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall serve as Depositary of this Convention.
Article 19
Ratification, acceptance, approval and accession
1. This Convention shall be subject to ratification, acceptance or approval by signatory States and regional economic integration organizations.
2. This Convention is open to the accession of States and regional economic integration organizations referred to in Article 17 from 22 December 1998.
3. Any State, other than those referred to in paragraph 2 above, which is a member of the United Nations, may accede to the Convention with the agreement of the Meeting of the Parties.
4. Any organization referred to in Article 17 that becomes a Party to this Convention without any of its member States being a Party is bound by all obligations arising from the Convention. When one or more member States of such an organization are Parties to this Convention, that organization and its member States agree on their respective responsibilities in fulfilling their obligations under the Convention. In such cases, the organization and the Member States are not entitled to exercise the rights arising from this Convention concurrently.
5. In their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, the regional economic integration organizations referred to in Article 17 shall indicate the extent of their competence with respect to the substances covered by this Convention. In addition, these organizations inform the Depositary of any significant changes in the scope of their jurisdiction.
Rule 20
Entry into force
1. This Convention comes into force on the ninetieth day after the date of deposit of the sixteenth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.
2. For the purposes of paragraph 1 above, the instrument deposited by a regional economic integration organization does not add to those deposited by the member States of that organization.
3. With respect to each State or organization referred to in Article 17 ratifying, accepting or approving this Convention or acceding to it after the deposit of the sixteenth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, the Convention shall enter into force on the ninetieth day after the date of the deposit by that State or that organization of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.
Article 21
Denunciation
At any time after the expiration of a three-year period beginning on the date on which this Convention has entered into force with respect to a Party, that Party may denounce the Convention by written notification addressed to the Depositary. This denunciation shall take effect on the ninetieth day after the date of receipt of its notification by the Depositary.
Article 22
Authentic texts
The original of this Convention, whose English, French and Russian texts are equally authentic, is deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
In the belief that the undersigned, to this duly authorized, have signed this Convention.
Done at Aarhus, Denmark, on 25 June 1998.
A N N E X E I
LIST OF ACTIVITIES
VISED TO PARAGRAPH 1 a OF ARTICLE 6
1. Energy sector:
Oil and gas refineries;
Gasification and liquefaction installations;
Thermal plants and other combustion plants with a thermal input of at least 50 megawatts (MW);
Cokeries;
Nuclear power plants and other nuclear reactors, including the dismantling or decommissioning of nuclear power plants or reactors (1) (with the exception of research facilities for the production and processing of fissile and fertile material, the maximum power of which does not exceed 1 kilowatt continuous thermal charge);
Installations for the reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuels;
Installations for:
- the production or enrichment of nuclear fuels;
- treatment of irradiated nuclear fuels or highly radioactive wastes;
- the final elimination of irradiated nuclear fuels;
- exclusively for the final disposal of radioactive waste;
- exclusively for storage (for more than ten years) of irradiated nuclear fuel or radioactive waste in a site different from the production site.
2. Metal production and processing:
Grilling or sintering facilities of metal ore (including sulphur ore);
Installations for iron or steel production (primary or secondary) including continuous casting equipment with capacity of more than 2.5 tonnes per hour;
Installations for the processing of ferrous metals:
(i) Hot-rolling with capacity greater than 20 tonnes of raw steel per hour;
(ii) Forging using hammers whose impact energy exceeds 50 kilojoules per hammer and when the calorific power implemented is greater than 20 megawatts;
(iii) Application of melting metal layers with a processing capacity greater than 2 tonnes of raw steel per hour;
Ferrous metal foundries with a production capacity greater than 20 tons per day;
Installations:
(i) Destined to produce non-ferrous raw metals from minerals, concentrates or secondary raw materials by metallurgical, chemical or electrolytic processes;
(ii) For merging, including alloy, of non-ferrous metals, including recovery products (refining, melting), of a melting capacity greater than 4 tons per day for lead and cadmium or 20 tons per day for all other metals;
Surface treatment facilities for metals and plastics using an electrolytic or chemical process, when the volume of tanks for the treatment is greater than 30 cubic metres.
3. Mineral industry:
- installations for the production of clinker (cement) in rotary ovens with a production capacity greater than 500 tonnes per day, or lime in rotary ovens with a production capacity greater than 50 tonnes per day, or in other types of ovens with a production capacity greater than 50 tonnes per day;
- facilities for the production of asbestos and the manufacture of asbestos-based products;
- installations intended for the manufacture of glass, including those intended for the production of glass fibres with a fusion capacity greater than 20 tons per day;
- facilities for the melting of minerals, including those for the production of mineral fibres, with a melting capacity greater than 20 tonnes per day;
- installations for the manufacture of ceramic products by cooking, including tiles, bricks, refractory stones, tiles, sandstones or porcelain, with a production capacity of more than 75 tons per day, and/or an oven capacity of more than 4 cubic metres and more than 300 kg/m3 per oven.
4. Chemical industry: production, as defined in the categories of activities listed in this section, means the production in industrial quantity by chemical transformation of substances or groups of substances referred to in subparagraphs (a) to (g):
(a) Chemical installations for the manufacture of basic organic chemicals, such as:
(i) Simple hydrocarbons (linear or cyclical, saturated or unsaturated, aliphatic or aromatic);
(ii) Hydrocarbons, including alcohol, aldehydes, ketone, carboxylic acids, esters, acetate, ethers, peroxides, epoxy resins;
(iii) Sulphur hydrocarbons;
(iv) Azo hydrocarbons, including amines, amides, nitrous compounds, nitrates or nitrates, nitriles, cyanates, isocyanates;
(v) Phosphorous hydrocarbons;
(vi) Halogenated hydrocarbons;
(vii) Organometallic compounds;
(viii) Basic plastics (polymers, synthetic fibres, cellulose-based fibres);
(ix) Synthetic rubbers;
(x) Colorings and pigments;
(xi) Surface trends and agents;
(b) Chemical installations for the manufacture of basic inorganic chemicals, such as:
(i) Gases, including ammonia, chlorine or hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride or fluoride, carbon oxides, sulphur compounds, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen, sulphur dioxide, carbonyl dichloride;
Acids, including chromic acid, hydrofluoric acid, phosphoric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, oleum, sulphuric acid;
(iii) Bases, including ammonium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide;
(iv) Salts, including ammonium chloride, potassium chlorate, potassium carbonate, sodium carbonate, perborate, silver nitrate;
(v) Non-metals, metal oxides or other inorganic compounds such as calcium carbide, silicon, silicon carbide;
(c) Chemical installations for the manufacture of phosphorus, nitrogen or potassium fertilizers (simple fertilizers or compounds);
(d) Chemical installations for the manufacture of phytosanitary and biocide products;
(e) Installations using a chemical or biological process for the manufacture of basic pharmaceuticals;
(f) Chemical installations for the manufacture of explosives;
(g) Chemical installations in which chemical or biological treatment is used to produce protein additives to feed animals, ferments and other protein substances.
5. Waste management:
Installations for incineration, recovery, chemical treatment and dumping of hazardous wastes;
Facilities for municipal waste incineration, with a capacity greater than 3 tons per hour;
Installations for the disposal of non-hazardous waste, with a capacity of more than 50 tons per day;
Discharges receiving more than 10 tonnes per day or with a total capacity of more than 25,000 tonnes, excluding inert waste discharges.
6. Wastewater treatment facilities with a capacity greater than 150,000 population equivalents.
7. Industrial installations for:
(a) Manufacture of paper pulp from wood or other fibrous materials;
(b) The production of paper and cardboard, with a production capacity of more than 20 tons per day.
8. (a) Construction of track for long-distance railway traffic and airports (2) with a take-off and main landing runway of at least 2,100 metres;
(b) Construction of highways and rapid roads (3);
(c) Construction of a new four-way or more road, or alignment and/or expansion of an existing two-way road or less to make it a four-way or more road, where the new road or road section aligned and/or extended must have an uninterrupted length of at least 10 kilometres.
9. (a) Inland waterways and inland waterway ports allowing access to boats of more than 1,350 tons;
(b) Ports of commerce, loading and unloading docks connected to the land and fore-ports (excluding docks for trans-shipers) accessible to ships of more than 1,350 tons.
10. Artificial capturing or recharging of groundwater when the annual volume of water to be captrated or recharged reaches or exceeds 10 million cubic metres.
11. (a) Work for the transfer of water resources between river basins when this operation is intended to prevent potential water shortages and the annual volume of transvasive water exceeds 100 million cubic metres;
(b) In all other cases, works for the transfer of water resources between river basins where the average annual flow over several years of the sampling basin exceeds 2,000 million cubic metres and the volume of water transvased exceeds 5% of that flow.
In both cases, the transfer of drinking water through pipelines is excluded.
12. Extraction of oil and natural gas for commercial purposes, when extracted quantities exceed 500 tonnes of oil and 500,000 cubic metres of gas per day.
13. Dams and other facilities intended to retain or store water permanently when the new water volume or additional water volume to be retained or stored exceeds 10 million cubic metres.
14. Canalizations for the transport of gas, oil or chemical products, with a diameter greater than 800 millimetres and a length greater than 40 kilometers.
15. Facilities for intensive poultry or pig farming with more than:
(a) 40,000 poultry sites;
(b) 2,000 production pig pitches (more than 30 kg);
or
(c) 750 sites for sows.
16. Careers and open-air mining when the site surface exceeds 25 hectares or, for peatlands, 150 hectares.
17. Construction of electric power transmission airlines with a voltage of 220 kilovolts or more and a length greater than 15 kilometres.
18. Oil, petrochemical or chemical storage facilities with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes or more.
19. Other activities:
Pre-treatment facilities (washing operations, bleaching, mercerising) or dyeing of fibres or textiles whose treatment capacity is greater than 10 tonnes per day;
Installations for skin tanning, when the treatment capacity is greater than 12 tonnes of finished products per day:
(a) Abattoirs with a carcass production capacity greater than 50 tonnes per day;
(b) Processing and processing of food products from:
(i) Animal raw materials (other than milk), with a production capacity of finished products greater than 75 tonnes per day;
(ii) Plant raw materials, with a production capacity of finished products greater than 300 tonnes per day (average value on a quarterly basis);
(c) Treatment and processing of milk, the amount of milk received being more than 200 tonnes per day (average value on an annual basis);
Facilities for the disposal or recycling of animal carcasses and wastes with a processing capacity greater than 10 tonnes per day;
Installations for the surface treatment of materials, objects or products, and using organic solvents, particularly for the preparation, printing, coating, degreasing, waterproofing, collage, painting, cleaning or impregnation, solvent consumption capacity of more than 150 kilograms per hour or more than 200 tons per hour;
Installations for the manufacture of carbon (hard charcoal) or electrography by combustion or graphitisation.
20. Any activity not referred to in paragraphs 1 to 19 above for which public participation is provided under an environmental impact assessment procedure in accordance with national legislation.
21. The provisions of paragraph 1(a) of Article 6 of this Convention shall not apply to any of the activities mentioned above which are undertaken exclusively or essentially to seek, develop and experiment new methods or products and shall not last more than two years unless they are at risk of having a significant adverse effect on the environment or health.
22. Any modification or extension of activities that meet the criteria or thresholds set out in this annex shall be governed by paragraph 1 (a) of Article 6 of this Convention. Any other modification or extension of activities shall be governed by paragraph 1 (b) of Article 6 of this Convention.
A N N E X E I
ARBITRAGE
1. In the case of a dispute referred to arbitration under paragraph 2 of Article 16 of this Convention, a party (or parties) shall notify the secretariat of the subject matter of the arbitration and shall indicate, in particular, the articles of this Convention whose interpretation or application is in question. The secretariat shall transmit the information received to all Parties to this Convention.
2. The arbitral tribunal is composed of three members. The (or the) requesting party(s) and the other (or other) party(s) in the dispute shall appoint an arbitrator and the two arbitrators so appointed shall jointly designate the third arbitrator who is the President of the arbitral tribunal. The latter shall not be a national of one of the parties to the dispute or have his habitual residence in the territory of one of these parties, or be at the service of one of them, or have already dealt with the matter in any other way.
3. If, within two months after the appointment of the second arbitrator, the President of the Arbitral Tribunal has not been appointed, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe shall, at the request of one of the parties to the dispute, appoint it within a further two-month period.
4. If, within two months of receipt of the application, one of the parties to the dispute does not proceed with the appointment of an arbitrator, the other party may inform the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe, who designates the President of the Arbitral Tribunal within two months. Upon designation, the President of the Arbitral Tribunal shall request the party who has not appointed an arbitrator to do so within two months. If it does not do so within this period, the President shall inform the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe, who shall make the appointment within a further two months.
5. The court shall render its sentence in accordance with international law and the provisions of this Convention.
6. Any arbitral tribunal established pursuant to the provisions of this annex shall determine its own procedure.
7. The decisions of the arbitral tribunal, both on procedural and substantive matters, shall be taken by a majority of its members.
8. The court may take all necessary measures to establish the facts.
9. The parties to the dispute shall facilitate the task of the arbitral tribunal and, in particular, by all means at their disposal:
(a) Provides all relevant documents, facilities and information;
(b) If necessary, allow him to quote and hear witnesses or experts.
10. The parties and arbitrators shall protect the secrecy of any information they receive in confidence during the arbitration proceedings.
11. The arbitral tribunal may, at the request of one of the parties, recommend interim measures.
12. If one of the parties to the dispute fails to appear before the arbitral tribunal or fails to assert its means, the other party may request the court to continue the proceedings and make its final award. The fact that a party does not present itself or assert its means does not impede the proceedings.
13. The arbitral tribunal may hear and decide on counterclaims directly related to the subject matter of the dispute.
14. Unless the arbitral tribunal decides otherwise because of the particular circumstances of the case, the costs of the court, including the remuneration of its members, shall be borne equally by the parties to the dispute. The court shall keep a statement of all costs and provide a final statement to the parties.
15. Any Party to this Convention that has, with respect to the subject matter of the dispute, a legal interest likely to be affected by the decision in the case may intervene in the proceedings, with the agreement of the court.
16. The arbitral tribunal shall render its award within five months of the date on which it was constituted, unless it considers it necessary to extend the time limit for a period not exceeding five months.
17. The award of the arbitral tribunal is accompanied by a statement of grounds. It is final and binding for all parties to the dispute. The arbitral tribunal shall communicate it to the parties to the dispute and to the secretariat. The latter shall transmit the information received to all Parties to this Convention.
18. Any dispute between the parties with respect to the interpretation or enforcement of the award may be submitted by one of the parties to the arbitral tribunal that has rendered the award or, if it cannot be seized, to another tribunal constituted for that purpose in the same manner as the first.
Reservation and declaration
of the Government of the French Republic
1. Territorial application reserve:
"The French Government will not apply this Convention in New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna. »
2. Interpretative declaration concerning articles 4, 5 and 6 of the Convention:
"The French Government will ensure the disclosure of relevant information for the protection of the environment, while ensuring the protection of industrial and commercial secrecy, using established and applicable legal practices in France. »
Done in Paris, September 12, 2002.
Jacques Chirac
By the President of the Republic:
The Prime Minister,
Jean-Pierre Raffarin
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Dominique de Villepin
