HAVET & VANHUFFEL – Association d’avocats
In a judgment of 15 January 2025 (Case C-129/24), the Court of Justice of the European Union held that, although Article 2 of Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to environmental information does not require applicants for access to information to identify themselves, it nevertheless does not preclude national legislation from imposing such an obligation of identification, provided that the principles of equivalence and effectiveness are respected, that is, that the rules are not less favourable than those applicable under national law and do not render the exercise of the right of access impossible or excessively difficult.
The referring court asks the Court of Justice to interpret the concept of “applicant” within the meaning of Article 2(5) of Directive 2003/4, read in the light of the Aarhus Convention. In particular, it seeks to determine whether this concept requires the identification of the applicant by their real name and/or current physical address, and whether national legislation imposing such an identification is compatible with EU law.
The Court first recalls that, according to settled case-law, concepts of EU law that do not expressly refer to national law must be given an autonomous and uniform interpretation. This interpretation must take into account not only the wording of the provision concerned, but also its context and the objectives pursued.
Examining the wording of Article 2(5) of Directive 2003/4, the Court notes that an “applicant” is defined as any natural or legal person who requests environmental information. This definition is broad and does not expressly require identification by real name or physical address.
The Court further observes that neither this provision nor its legal context imposes an obligation to formally identify the applicant. In particular, no requirement to provide a real name or address appears in the relevant provisions of the directive.
Article 3(1) of the directive provides that environmental information must be made available to any applicant, without the need for the applicant to state an interest. However, this provision does not require the applicant to provide their real name and/or physical address when submitting the request.
The Court emphasises that the objectives of the directive — namely, ensuring wide public access to environmental information and promoting its broad dissemination — do not require the status of “applicant” to be conditional upon nominative or geographic identification.
This interpretation is confirmed by the Aarhus Convention, which requires environmental information to be made available to the “public”, defined broadly. The convention likewise does not impose a requirement that natural or legal persons identify themselves when submitting a request.
Nevertheless, the Court clarifies that the directive does not oblige public authorities to respond to requests made by indeterminate entities, nor to repeated and numerous identical requests that could undermine effective access for other applicants, given the limited resources of public authorities.
In this context, it is for the Member States to lay down practical arrangements ensuring that requests genuinely come from natural or legal persons. These arrangements must comply with the principles of equivalence and effectiveness, meaning that they must not be less favourable than those governing similar domestic situations and must not make the exercise of EU law rights impossible or excessively difficult.
Applying these principles, the Court concludes that national legislation, such as that at issue in Ireland, may require applicants to be identified by their name and address. Ultimately, while the concept of “applicant” under EU law does not itself require such identification, it does not preclude a national rule imposing identification, provided that the principles of equivalence and effectiveness are respected.
To access the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union, follow the link : https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A62024CJ0129&qid=1395932669976.