Identify information obligations

Charte de l'environnement states that "Everyone has the right, under the conditions and within the limits defined by law, to access information relating to the environment held by public authorities and to participate in the preparation of public decisions affecting the environment" (cf. article 7 of the Charter).

It has been ruled that the principles set out at Charte de l'environnement are directly binding on administrative authorities in their own areas of competence (Conseil d'Etat, Assemblée, October 3 2008, no. 297931. These principles must therefore guide the actions of administrative authorities, failing which they run the risk of seeing their decisions censured by the courts.

This right to information is set out in Article L. 110-1 of the French Environment Code ( Code de l’environnement ), which, in the version published at loi n° 2012-1460 du 27 décembre 2012 on the implementation of the principle of public participation set out in Article 7 of the French Environment Code ( Charte de l'environnement ), stipulates the "right of access to information relating to the environment held by public authorities".

In the field of environmentally classified facilities, the prefectoral authority is responsible for providing the public with access to information about the facilities.

It is therefore essential to understand the concept of environmental information, and to identify the players involved and the procedures for accessing this information.