Money or lawsuit?

The new Environmental Appeals Act came into force on April 8, 2013. It replaces the law passed by the German government in December 2006, which the European Court of Justice (ECJ) classified as contrary to European law in the Trianel/BUND decision in May 2011. The new Environmental Appeals Act grants recognized environmental associations improved opportunities for legal action if environmental regulations have been violated by investors or project sponsors. In recent years, environmental associations have occasionally reached out-of-court settlements that include monetary payments in addition to compensation under nature conservation law. These lawsuits have been highlighted by the media (including the news magazine Spiegel and Panorama/NDR). This makes it clear that the recognized environmental associations must pay more attention to communication with the public than in the past and take it into account accordingly. In a two-day event, the current developments in this area of conflict were discussed between experts, environmentalists, lawyers and citizens, among others. The event took place on September 5 and 6, 2013 at the House of Democracy and Human Rights in Berlin.