Role of a judge under the two directives - focus on access to justice
Introduction (1/2)
Both Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EC and Noise Directive 2002/49/EC aim to protect humans and the environment. With regard to Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EC, this objective is explicitly laid down in Article 1, which reads:
"This Directive lays down measures aimed at the following: 1. defining and establishing objectives for ambient air quality designed to avoid, prevent or reduce harmful effects on human health and the environment as a whole...".
This objective is also addressed in Recitals 1 to 3, 11 and 12 of Directive 2008/50/EC. Recital 12 in particular explicitly refers to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (further in the text – WHO), which issued guidelines on air quality levels in order to protect human health.
Also, Noise Directive 2002/49/EC refers to the need to protect human health, by stating in Article 1:
"The aim of this Directive shall be to define a common approach intended to avoid, prevent or reduce on a prioritized basis the harmful effects, including annoyance, due to exposure to environmental noise".
Public participation in decision making:
Scope of application
Dr Matthias Keller
Scope of application
Dr Matthias Keller