HISTORY
Our story began in 2003, at the heart of the European Union enlargement. About a year later, many countries from the former “Eastern Block” became EU Member States. Back then, environmental lawyers from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia realised that joining forces on the Brussels scene would strengthen their national cases. EU membership brought about stronger environmental standards, but these are not equally applied everywhere. Making the EU and national governments keep their promises to better protect the people and the environment is the core effort of Justice and Environment (J&E).
The organisation expanded from having 4 members in 2003 to 14 today, most of them residing in EU countries.
MISSION & ACTION
We aim for a stronger environmental legislation and implementation on both the national and European Union stages to protect the environment, people and nature. Our coverage is wide and we are well aware of the environmental law enforcement issues shared by Spain and Estonia for instance. Gathering national experiences enables us to expose pressing issues in Brussels, while maintaining strong ties with local communities.
HOW WE WORK
As lawyers we mostly use legal methods and tools to convince decision makers into spurring positive change. We analyse the implementation of EU law, illustrate on-the-ground practice via case studies, design policy recommendations. When needed, we defend the rights of communities and nature in court and launch infringement proceedings against faulty governments. In partnership with other NGOs, we campaign for a change in law and enforcement. We work to improve our campaigning activities, to engage people via media tools.
Our fields
● We are currently working on:
● Access to Justice (the Aarhus Convention)
● Climate
● Environmental Assessments (EA)
Pollution control: Environmental Liability Directive (ELD)
In the past, we also worked on Waste, Transport, Health and Biodiversity (Natura 2000).
