UPDATE (07.05.2010)
Talking about the environmental effects of industrial installations:
the European Directive on Industrial Emissions
(IED/ current IPPC Directive)
The Environmental Law Network International (elni), the Vlaamse Vereniging voor Omgevingsrecht (VVOR) and the Vereniging voor Milieurecht (VMR) will hold a congress in Ghent on 17th September 2010. The topic will be the revision of the IPPC Directive. On the occasion of the congress elni will also celebrate its 20th birthday.
More information on this event.

Date: 27th of August 2010

• Event: "A High Level of Environmental Protection "
  Delphine Misonne from the CEDRE of the Facultés universitaires Saint-Louis in Bruxelles Belgium will present her PhD Thesis:
  "Le niveau élevé de protection, une exigence susceptible de contrôle - Considérations sur une règle essentielle du droit de l'environnement"
  The event will take place on the 8th of September 2010 at 16 pm.
  For more information please follow this link (-> Events -> by elni members)
  

Date: 7th of May 2010

• Articles of the elni Review 1/2010
  The main focus of issue 1/2010 is waste law and offers the following contributions:
  
  In an article entitled “Remarks on the Waste Framework Directive”, Ludwig Krämer comments on the directive, in particular on those provisions where the legal situation has changed from previous legislation. This outstanding article is available for download here (PDF/ 729kb).
  
  “Chinese e-waste legislation, current status and future development” is the subject of the article by Martin Streicher-Porte, Katharina Kummer, Xinwen Chi, Stefan Denzler and Xuejung Wang. This article provides detailed insights on several environmental laws and regulations concerning both waste of electrical and electronic equipment as well as the production of electrical and electronic equipment in China.
  
  “The EU Waste Shipment Regulation and the need for better enforcement” by Thomas Ormond discusses the background of waste shipment law, traces the recent developments in waste trade and legislation and sets out current problems and issues.
  
  Beside waste law this issue of elni Review also deals with two subjects which are both relevant to the current environmental debate:
  
  The article “Quality and Speed of Administrative Decision-Making Proceedings: Tension or Balance?” by Chris Backes and Sander Jansen reflects the prevailing tensions concerning administrative decision-making: the necessity of speedier procedures – resulting from the economic crisis – the quality of the proceedings and the rights of citizens.
  
  Further Gerhard Roller addresses the legal role of NGOs in court proceedings in Germany in an article entitled “Locus standi for environmental NGOs in Germany”.
  
  In addition, this edition of elni Review covers recent developments concerning the debates about the EU Waste Implementation Agency, as well as the latest news about the Commission warning the UK about the unfair cost of challenging decisions.
  
  
• Call for contributions for the elni Review issue 2/2010:
  The next issue of the elni review will focus on environmental law in developing and emerging countries. Contributions on this issue are very welcome. Please send contributions on this topic as well as other interesting articles to the editors by mid-July 2010.
  
  
• ELNI-VMR-VVOR congress    
  “Talking about the environmental effects of industrial installations: the European Directive on Industrial Emissions”:
  On the occasion of the upcoming recast of the European Directive on Industrial Emissions, the Environmental Law Network International, the Vereniging voor Milieurecht (VMR) and the Vlaamse Vereniging voor Omgevingsrecht (V.V.O.R.) are co-organising a congress on IPPC, IED, and all possible and impossible questions in this field. The congress will take place on 17th September 2010 at Ghent University. At the end of the day, there will be an unforgettable ELNI birthday party!
  More information on our website.
  Direct confirmation of your participation at: www.omgevingsrecht.be
  
  
• ELNI general meeting on 18th September in Ghent:
  On the day after the ELNI-VMR-VVOR congress the general meeting of the Environmental Law Network International will take place . The intention is for people to get together and discuss the future strategy of ELNI. The agenda will focus on developing a common strategy to foster the international co-operation of the network.
  Please confirm your participation by sending an email to below@sofia-darmstadt.de or writing to the following address: Mr Nicola Below, Society for Institutional Analysis (sofia), University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt, Haardtring 100, 64295 Darmstadt, Germany.
  
  
• elni Review issue 1/2008 and 2/2008 now available online
  The issues 1/2008 and 2/2008 are now available online in our archive and can be downloaded free of charge.

Date: 5th of November 2009

• Articles of the elni Review 2/2009
  The issue 2/2009 of the elni Review is ready for dispatch and offers the following contributions:
  In her article “EU Enforcement Policy of Community Environmental law as presented in the Commission Communication on implementing European Community Environmental law”, Marta Ballesteros discusses the implementation of European Community Environmental Law enforcement and its interaction with the Aarhus Convention and other European Laws.
  This outstanding Contribution can now be downloaded for free from our elni Review archive 2009 section (or download the PDF directly: PDF, 709KB).
  
  “The direct effect of the Aarhus Convention as seen by the French ‘Conseil d’Etat’” is the subject of the article by Julien Bétaille. His article provides detailed insights on the implementation and practical application of the Aarhus Convention in France.
  “Practical application of Article 9 of the Aarhus Convention in EU countries: Some comparative remarks” by Pavel Cerný discusses several specific topics from this field which can be considered crucial to legal protection of the environment in practice. The article also addresses the contributions and discussions presented at the „International conference on the implementation of the Aarhus Convention in practice”.
  The article “Environmental Inspections at the EU: The imperative to move forward” by Ana Barreira reflects the point of view of the EEB on compliance and enforcement of European Environmental Law.
  Further Christian Schaible addresses the EEB’s position on the revision of the IPPC Directive in his article “Current discussions on the proposal for an Industrial Emissions Directive: Stronger role for Best Available Techniques?”.
  National specifics of the IPPC Directive in practice are shown from a British point of view by Lesley James. She comments on the “Aberthaw Power Station: An IPPC case study”.
  “Why patents are crucial for the access of developing countries to Environmentally Sound Technologies” is explained by Michael Benske.
  
  This issue of elni Review also provides two conference reports:
  Nicola Below reports on the elni forum 2009 “The Directive on Industrial Emissions and its implementation in national law – key issues and practical experiences”, which took place at CEDRE in Brussels on 14th May 2009. The report can be downloaded from the elni events section (under elni Forum 2009).
  The contribution by Marie-Catharine van Engelen reports on the congress “European Environmental Law in Belgium and the Netherlands”, which took place in Rotterdam on 15th May 2009.
  

• Special edition of elni
  The up-coming issue of elni will take the form of a special edition which will be devoted to the analysis of strategic conflict management of large infrastructure projects.
  It will be multidisciplinary in nature and represent the outcome of the concise.net project [module 3]. conCISE.net is a project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research through its programme for socio-ecological research which was directed at facilitating the scientific networking on sustainable development, innovation and competitiveness.
  More information on the concise.net project on their homepage.

Date: 4th of November 2009

• elni Conference 2010 on the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED/ current IPPC Directive)
  On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the start of the Environmental Law Network International, elni is planning to hold a conference before the end of 2010. The topic will be the revision of the IPPC Directive.
  More information on this event.
  

Date: 21th of October 2

• Report from the European Commission on the application and effectiveness of the EIA Directive
  The European Commission published a report on the application and effectiveness of the EIA Directive (COM(2009) 0378 final) in July 2009. The Report points out implementation deficits, overlappings with other fields of laws and contradictions with other directives and policies. Moreover, it gives suggestions for improvements.
  On the one hand, the criticism concerns, in particular, screening and scoping on the grounds that member states have exceeded their margins of discretion. On the other hand, the report states that the overall objective of the EIA Directive has been achieved. Against the background of the growing environmental challenges in the area of biodiversity and climate change, and the EU enlargement in 2004 and 2007, the report is considered to be a first step towards an adjustment of the EIA Directive.
  Download the report from EUR-LEX.

Date: 17th of September 2009

• elni member conference:
  "Environmental Law and Policy in the European Union: The Legacy of the Treaty of Amsterdam"
  On the occassion of the inaugural lecture of Professor Marc Pallemaerts on 20 November 2009, the Centre for Environmental Law organises a conference.
  The conference will take place on 19th November 2009 in Amsterdam.
  Further information on the forum.

Date: 16th of June 2009

• New report:
  The report “Compliance by the European Community with its obligations on access to justice as a party to the Aarhus Convention - An IEEP Report for WWF-UK by Dr. Marc Pallemaerts (IEEP)” is now available on the IEEP Homepage or under Events by elni members.
  
  The study explores in much detail the extent to which the European Community is complying with the provisions of the Aarhus Convention. The author concludes that the EC has a major problem of non-compliance with its obligations in this respect. Different solutions to overcome the actual problems are presented.
  

Date 29th of May 2009

• elni Review issue 1/2009
  The main topics of this issue are the enforcement of EU law, and criminal law and the environment.
  Here is a brief summary of the contents awaiting you:
  This issue of elni Review provides valuable insights into selected national law frameworks:
  “Environmental penalties in Italy” by Paola Brambilla focuses on the history and actual issues of criminal environmental law in Italy.
  “Enforcing EU environmental law outside Europe? The case of ship dismantling” by Thomas Ormond provides a special view on EU law enforcement from an international perspective.
  Armelle Gouritin and Paul De Hert critically discuss the recent developments of European environmental criminal law in their article “Directive 2008/99/EC of 19 November 2008 on the protection of the environment through criminal law: A new start for criminal law in the European Community?”
  Topics which focus on actual EU-law issues:
  The viewpoint of environmental organisations towards the setting of standards of emissions is provided in “Development of harmonised European standards for measuring emissions from construction products in CEN from the perspective of environmental organisations” by Michael Riess and Ralf Lottes.
  The article “Regulation of nanomaterials under present and future Chemicals legislation - Analysis and regulative options” by Stefanie Merenyi, Martin Führ and Kathleen Ordnung critically reviews REACH under the perspectives of nanomaterials. It also contains information on recent developments on EU level.
  Other topics focus on national laws of non-EU countries:
  In his article Eugene A. Wystorobets focuses on the “Principle of public participation in environmental law of the Russian Federation” and provides general insights into Russian law.
  “A survey of the Vietnamese environmental legislation on water” by Michael Zschiesche and Duong Thanh An focuses on Vietnamese water law and the organisational background of administrative institutions in this context.

• Online promotion of leading elni Review articles:
  Paola Brambilla, “Environmental penalties in Italy”
  For the current elni Review issue 1/2009 we would like to draw your attention to the following downloadable article:
  Paola Brambilla, “Environmental penalties in Italy”. The article can be downloaded for free.
  
  
• Call for papers
  If you are interested in publishing an article in the upcoming issue of the elni Review 2/2009, we would kindly ask you to send us proposals and articles on the main topics of the next issue: Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).
  Articles, reports on conferences and book reviews on other topics are also welcome.
  Please bear in mind that the editorial deadline is at the end of August 2009; so please get in touch as soon as possible.
  

Date 26th of May 2009

• Regulating Chemicals in California and Europe:
  "Regulating Chemicals - Californian Green Chemistry and European REACH"
  The Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (IES) and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) together with the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) will host a Environmental Policy Forum.
  The forum will take place on 9th June 2009 in Brussels.
  Deadline for registration is the 4th June 2009, COB.
  Further information on the forum.

Date 22th of May 2009

• Chinese environmental policy and environmental law:
  "Chinese environmental policy and environmental law"
  The Flemish Association for Environmental Law (V.V.O.R.) will host a conference which will provide valuable insights into environmental policy and law development in China.
  The conference will take place on 16th June 2009 in Brussels.
  Further information on the conference.

Date: 6th of May 2009

• elni Forum 2009:
  “The Directive on Industrial Emissions and its implementation in national law - key issues and practical experiences”
  Keir McAndrew, European Commission, DG Environment, Unit ENV.C.4 - Industrial Emissions & Protection of the ozone layer will participate at the elni Forum 2009 and will provide the point of view of the European Commission on the key issues.
  
  Please note, that the Annual Meeting of the elni Association 2009 will now take place before the elni Forum at 4:30 p.m. at the same location.
  Further information on the elni Forum and the Annual Meeting.

Date: 28th of April 2009

• elni forum 2009:
  “The Directive on Industrial Emissions and its implementation in national law - key issues and practical experiences”
  The forum will take place in from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday the 14th May 2009. The venue is the Facultés universitaires Saint-Louis (FUSL), Boulevard du Jardin botanique 43 (Metro Botanique/Rogier), 1000 Brussels, Salle du Conseil, 4th Floor.
  Subsequently, the Annual Meeting of the elni Association 2009 will take place.
  More information on the elni Forum 2009.
  
  
• Special Announcement: ECHA Management Board
  The representative for interested parties of the ECHA Management Board and co-founder of the Environmental Law Network International – Marc Pallemaerts – is now member of the ECHA Board of Appeal. 
  In his place Martin Führ, also co-founder of elni and editor of the elni Review was nominated at 18 December 2008 by the Commission as a new member of the Management Board of the ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) following his nomination by a coalition of environmental, health and consumer NGOs led by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB).
  
  

Date: 31th of March 2009

• From IPPC to IED - study published
  The study concerning the article of Marga Robesin, “From IPPC to IED: Health and environment in Europe need a stronger Directive” was published by Stichting Natuur en Milieu (www.natuurenmilieu.nl) in January 2009. To get more information about the study, please visit our new elni homepage category "Recent studies".

Date: 4th of December 2008

• elni Review issue 1/2009: Extended submission deadline
  Due to the rather short time period given for submitting articles and proposals to us for the next issue of elni Review (1/2009), we are extending the submission deadline to 15th February 2009.

• Online promotion of leading elni Review articles: Marga Robesin, “From IPPC to IED”
  In order to better promote the original research published in elni Review, all leading articles can now be downloaded from our homepage shortly after the release of the actual issue of the elni Review.
  For the current elni Review issue 2/2008 we would like to draw your attention to the following downloadable article:
  Marga Robesin, “From IPPC to IED: Health and environment in Europe need a stronger Directive”. The article can be downloaded for free.
  We also would like to inform you of the latest news concerning the IED:
  The vote in the ENVI committee concerning IED has been delayed and is now scheduled for 21st January 2009. For more information click here.

• elni Review issue 1/2007 and 2/2007 now available online
  The issues 1/2007 and 2/2007 are now available online and can be downloaded free of charge.

Date: 13th of November 2008

• elni subscription in the information age
  Due to the updating of the elni Review service in accordance with new trends in the information age, we will be making the electronic version of elni Review the standard one.
  In the future, the journal will be sent to you by email in PDF format.
  If you still want to additionally receive the print version, please let us know by sending a short note to the following email address: below@sofia-darmstadt.de
  This improved service (of providing the journal in two different formats) is included in the general subscription fee.

• elni Review issue 2/2008
  The main topics of this issue are the Directives on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Here is a brief summary of the contents awaiting you:
  Articles with focus on IPPC/IED and EIA
  In “From IPPC to IED” Marga Robesin addresses the current development of the IPPC and six other directives which, it has been proposed, should be integrated in a new directive (IED).
  “Belgian environmental impact assessment systems” by Jan De Mulder traces the development of environmental impact assessment in Belgium on the federal and regional level by focusing on the SEA Directive.
  “Evaluation of the Federal German Act on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA Act)” by Kilian Bizer, Jaqui Dopfer and Martin Führ summarises the key findings of a research project concerning the analytical, process-related and institutional German settings of EIA.
  Articles with focus on other topics
  “Application of European Environmental Law by National Courts” by Luc Lavrysen examines the role of national courts in applying European environmental law in his article, providing the reader with in-depth insights from a practitioner in Belgium.
  “Enforcement of European environmental law” by Sebastian Tusch addresses the problem of inconsistency in the application of European environmental law.
  New developments in “Public participation in joint bodies for transboundary water cooperation” in Moldova and Ukraine are scrutinised by Iulia Trombitcaia in her contribution.
  Franz Fiala provides a summary of a Joint Communiqué by ANEC, ECOS and the Pacific Institute in his article, “Stakeholder representation in international environmental standardisation”.
  James K. Boyce and Michael Ash give an overview of the “Ranking corporate air polluters in the United States” in their short contribution.
  Conference reports
  Marc Pallemaerts summarises the presentations and discussions at the “Aarhus at 10” conference held at the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) on the 25th June 2008. At this event the participants had the possibility of reflecting on the interaction of the Convention with EU environmental law. Please feel free to download this report.
  Nicola Below reports on the “International Workshop on Regulatory Impact Assessment” – a workshop focusing on environment-related aspects of regulatory impact assessment, which took place in Berlin (Germany) on 15th - 17th of September 2008. This report can be downloaded here.
  Book Review
  Eugene A. Wystorobets presents and reviews the new book “International Environmental Law: Fairness, Effectiveness, and World Order” by Elli Louka.

• Call for papers
  If you are interested in publishing an article in the upcoming issue of the elni Review 1/2009, we would kindly ask you to send us proposals and articles on the main topics of the next issue: the enforcement of EU environmental law as well as environmental criminal law. Articles, reports on conferences and book reviews on other topics are also welcome.
  Please bear in mind that the editorial deadline is the 15th December 2008; so please get in touch as soon as possible.