Over 100 people Participate in Centre for Law and the Environment Seminar

2 Jul 2019

The seminar explored Recent Developments in European Union Environmental Law.

The Centre for Law and the Environment hosted a seminar on the theme Recent Developments in European Union Environmental Law on 28 June 2019.  The seminar, which was open to the public, was funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Communicating Europe Initiative 2019.

Over 100 people participated in the seminar including lawyers, public authorities, ecologists, NGOs, local community groups, members of the public and students.

The seminar aimed to explain recent developments in the law in an accessible manner.  It also sought to explain the obligations on public authorities and the State in specific areas of EU environmental law, and the role of the public, including NGOs, in enforcing those obligations.

The specific topics discussed at the seminar included: the right of access to environmental information; nature law; and access to justice in environmental matters.

Other interesting developments in the contemporary jurisprudence were highlighted, including: the Opinion of Advocate General Pitruzzella in Case C-261/18 Commission v Ireland (concerning a proposed penalty payment and a lump sum for failure by Ireland to comply with an earlier judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) relating to environmental impact assessment (EIA) obligations in the context of the Derrybrien windfarm); and the very recent judgment of the CJEU in Case C-723/17 Craeynest v Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (concerning inter alia assessment of air quality).

The Centre for Law and Environment is grateful for the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Communicating Europe Initiative 2019 which enabled us to host this public event at UCC.

You can watch presentations from the seminar using the links below:

Impact of EU Law on Irish Environmental Law: Contemporary Developments - Áine Ryall

https://ucc.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=58b273d8-0941-4f1f-8ec8-aa7f00bd4552

Access to Environmental Justice: the ongoing influence of EU Law - Tom Flynn BL

https://ucc.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=2b9adb81-9bf5-4646-a689-aa7f00bdbcf1

Access to environmental information: How EU law ensures the public has a right to know about environmental matters - Dr Fred Logue

https://ucc.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=7daf007c-d71e-4f06-b2fe-aa7f00bd6af7

Recent Developments in EU Nature Law - Suzanne Murray BL 

https://ucc.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=267bf3ec-fdcb-4107-bbda-aa7f00bd9a14

The powerpoint presentations from the seminar are also available to download:

Impact of EU Law on Irish Environmental Law: Contemporary Developments Áine Ryall

Access to environmental information: How EU law ensures the public has a right to know about environmental matters  Dr Fred Logue

Recent Developments in EU Nature Law Suzanne Suzanne Murray BL

Download Conference Programme Tom Flynn BL

Dr Áine Ryall Speaks to Dr Fred Logue About Accessing Environmental Information on the UCC School of Law podcast

Speaking after a recent Centre for Law and the Environment's seminar exploring recent developments in European Union Environmental Law, Dr Fred Logue describes how he worked with Friends of the Irish Environment and Right to Know to access environmental information from public authorities through litigation.