Transcript 5 Early public participation in France

Early public
participation
Benoît Rodrigues
French Ministry of Ecology,
Sustainable development and
Energy
10/02/2016
Crédit photo : Arnaud Bouissou/MEDDE
Ministère de l'Écologie, du Développement durable et de l’Énergie
www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr
Early public participation in
France
 France has set up strong and effective public participation
procedures :
 French environmental public enquiry since 1983 (after EIA)
 French environmental public debate since 1995 (before EIA –
concerns
large
projects
–
debate
about
opportunity/characteristics/objectives – organised by an independent
administrative authority)
 France takes into account European law (Directives 2001/42 and
2011/92) as well as the Aarhus Convention
 The principles of public participation are incorporated at the highest
level of the French legal system : the Charter of Environment as part of
the French Constitution mentions the public participation, legislative
principles in the Code of Environment
2
Early public participation in
France
 France wants to modernise, simplify and extend the scope of public
participation procedures:
 Dematerialisation of procedures (decree 2011)
 Environmental conference of François Hollande in 2014
 End of the Reforming process during the summer 2016
 France must modernise, simplify and extend the scope of public
participation procedures:
 Sivens drama and Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport protests
3
Early public participation in
France
 France is reforming its public participation procedures to take into
account the necessity to extend and improve public participation at
the earliest stage

New Legislation
Currently elaborated

New Charter (soft law)
with stakeholders
 It reveals some obstacles/challenges:
 When should be initiated the early public participation ?
 How can the public be informed of a specific activity or of a plan,
programm or policy, if it is at its earliest stage ?
 What activities, plans, programms and policies should be summitted to
an early public participation ?
 Why an early public participation does not exempt from public enquiry ?
 And how to convince stakeholders that it will be beneficial to economy
and to environment !?
4
Early public participation in
France
 Some elements can be considered as good practices and are
maintained or adapted:
 To entrust the organisation of the early procedure to an outside and
independent person (national commission for public debate /
guarantor) ;
 To ask for a complementary expertise ;
 To be clear that public can make observations, but also propositions
and counter-proposals ;
 To let the public know how its observations, propositions and counterproposals have been taken into account ;
 To attach the result of the procedure to the potential future public
enquiry.
5
Thank you for
your attention !
Ministère de l'Écologie, du Développement durable et de l’Énergie
www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr