CONTENTS

2.1.1 The Directive's provisions

2.2 The effect of the Directive on national law 

2.3 Access to environmental information: key elements and good practices 

2.3.1 Type of instrument 

2.3.2 Principle of access

2.3.3 Information covered 

2.3.4 Public authorities and other bodies covered 

2.3.5 Formal requirements

2.3.6 Exceptions

2.3.7 Practical arrangements 

2.3.8 Costs 

2.3.9 Appeals

2.3.10 Time limits 

2.3.11 Active information 

2.4 The EU Institutions

2.4.1 The Commission

2.4.2 The Council

2.4.3 The Parliament

2.5 The situation in non-EU member states 

2.5.1 EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway

2.5.2 Central and Eastern Europe

2.6 Relevant international instruments

2.6.1 Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration and Chapter 40 of Agenda 21 The UN ECE Guidelines on Access to Environmental Information and Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making

2.7 Conclusions: Toward a culture of openness

3. DEVELOPMENTS

3.1 The review of the EU Directive

3.2 Review of the EU institutions' rules 

3.2.1 Revision of the Treaty on European Union 

3.3 International developments

3.3.1 Review of the UN ECE Guidelines and negotiation of a UN ECE Convention on Access to Environmental Information and Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making

3.3.2 Review of Agenda 21: Rio plus 5

3.4 Conclusions: Building on existing experience

4. THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY'S CONTRIBUTION: PUTTING INFORMATION TO WORK

4.1 Identification of areas for improvement in the structures for collecting and presenting information and of effective working models 

4.1.1 Moving from a sectoral to an integrated approach 

4.1.2 Sampling, monitoring, and reporting requirements 

4.1.3 The privatisation of information

4.2 Practical suggestions for improvements in information collection and distribution systems

4.3 Environmental information in the information society 

4.4 Via comparability toward sustainability

4.5 Conclusions

ANNEXES