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) | … | … | … | … |