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Access to documents: Interaction and gaps in the REACH and Aarhus Convention systems

Vito Buonsante

elni Review 2011, Issue 1,  pp. 15-20. https://doi.org/10.46850/elni.2011.003

Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) was published in the Official Journal on 30 December 2006 and came into force on 1 June 2007. Regulation (EC) 1367/2006 on the application of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters to Community Institutions and Bodies entered into force on 28 September 2006 and became applicable on 28 June 2007.
This article discusses the gaps in REACH in relation to the Aarhus Regulation, and the obligations for ECHA that derive from the application of REACH and from the fact that the EU is a party to the Aarhus Convention. The article also carries out a partial assessment of the work conducted by ECHA on access to and dissemination of environmental information.

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References

  1. Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on public access to environmental information and repealing Council Directive 90/313/EEC, OJ L 41, 14.2.2003, p. 26–32.
  2. Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, OJ 2001 L 145/43.
  3. UNECE, Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters done at Aarhus, Denmark, on 25 June 1998. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139171380.066.
  4. Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006 on the application of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters to Community institutions and bodies, OJ 2006 L 264/13.
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