Table of Contents

4 Preliminary findings about citizen & community‑led actions and citizen generated data in environmental compliance assurance

← Introduction | Background & definitions | Methodological approach | Conclusions & next steps | Annexes | Bibliography

4.1 The regulatory framework for environmental compliance assurance

Two groups of policies were identified:

* Horizontal (cross‑cutting) – provide the governance backbone (access to information, public participation, access to justice). * Vertical (thematic) – focus on the three pillars (Zero‑pollution, Biodiversity, Deforestation).

Horizontal policies generally offer more opportunities for CCLA/CGD (e.g. Aarhus Convention, Environmental Impact Assessment Directive).

4.2 Citizen & community‑led actions in compliance promotion

Table 6 (below) summarises the assessment per policy.

Policy CCLA promotion (colour) Notes
Aarhus Convention (1998) green Extensive public‑participation & information‑flow provisions
Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive (2001) yellow Early public consultation required
Access to Environmental Information Directive (2003) yellow One‑way information provision
Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (2014) green Two‑way participation encouraged
Environmental Crime Directive (2024) green Awareness‑raising campaigns & stakeholder cooperation
… (remaining policies)

*Key take‑away*: Most policies contain at least one‑way communication (yellow); only a few (Aarhus, EIA 2014, EC 2024) reach green (two‑way).

4.3 Citizen generated data in compliance monitoring

Table 7 (below) shows the colour coding.

Policy CGD monitoring (colour) Comments
Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive (2001) yellow Allows “existing monitoring arrangements” – could include CGD
Access to Environmental Information Directive (2003) grey No explicit monitoring reference
Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (2014) yellow “Unsolicited comments” may be CGD
Nature Restoration Regulation (2024) green Explicitly mandates use of citizen‑science data
Regulation on Deforestation‑Free Products (2023) green Allows NGOs, indigenous peoples, civil‑society data
… (remaining policies)

#### Notable opportunities * Nature Restoration Regulation (2024) – Direct call for citizen‑science data. * Deforestation‑Free Products (2023) – Accepts data from NGOs, indigenous peoples, and “other publicly available sources”.

#### Typical restrictions * Bathing Water Directive (2006) – Requires ISO‑approved methods → possible barrier for CGD. * Nitrates Directive (1991) – No clear provision for CGD.

4.4 Citizen & community‑led actions & citizen generated data in compliance enforcement

Table 8 summarises the assessment.

Policy CCLA enforcement (colour) CGD enforcement (colour) Remarks
Aarhus Convention (1998) green green Right to judicial review, NGOs as observers
Environmental Crime Directive (2024) green yellow Procedural rights for victims & witnesses
Regulation on Deforestation‑Free Products (2023) green green Natural/legal persons may lodge substantiated concerns
… (remaining policies)

#### Overall picture * Horizontal policies (Aarhus, EC 2024) provide the strongest enforcement pathways for citizens. * Most thematic policies defer enforcement to national law, yielding grey or red.

4.5 Summary of colour‑code categorisation (Table 9)

The table below aggregates the colour codes for each policy and each ECA intervention.

```dokuwiki

Policy CCLA promotion CGD monitoring CCLA enforcement CGD enforcement
Aarhus Convention (1998) green green green
Strategic Env. Assessment (2001) yellow yellow
Access to Env. Info (2003) yellow yellow
… (all 20 policies)