Erika Wagner

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 17 (2019), Issue 2, Page 185 - 193

The following article demonstrates the need to establish collective actions in Austrian civil procedure law in connection with so-called climate claims. Collective actions of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which devote themselves to the protection of the environment, have so far not been enforced on a legal level in Austria. In order to bring an action concerning international climate litigation, the introduction of a Climate Liability Directive at EU level, which contains the corresponding collective claim rights, is required. To ensure the effective legal protection of individual interests, it is necessary in light of the procedural safeguards of Art. 6, Art. 13 ECHR and Art. 47 CFREU to establish an additional legal procedure. Too big are the hurdles, if the individual has to bring climate action against corporations to protect his or her legal interests. In the absence of truly realistic options, it would be necessary to supplement the constitutional standard of individual legal protection with collective models of legal action. The new proposal of the EU for a directive on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers confirms the trend towards collective redress, but only concerns consumer protection law. The proposal contains many aspects that would also be a suitable basis for climate liability cases. In order to open the scope of application of the EU Directive for the area of climate protection law, it would be urgently necessary to extend the appendix to climate-relevant legal acts of the EU law, such as the certificate trading Directive etc. Climate protection law would then become relevant for private-law suits.

Rüdiger Rubel

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 17 (2019), Issue 3, Page 386 - 395

Over the last two decades, environmental law has strongly influenced the legal protection, in particular with regard to planning approval decisions. In addition to the system of legal protection based on subjective rights contained in the Code of Administrative Court Procedure, the action instituted by an association (Verbandsklage) has become important and has changed judicial practice. Absolute procedural rights increase the success rate of actions under environmental law. The understanding of the roles of the administrative courts appears to be changing. Statutory provisions having the effect of maintaining plans in force, such as the ignorance of defects and the extinction of the exercise of a right, have come under pressure. Administrative courts and the legislature are required to become aware of such developments and, if necessary, to react accordingly.

Elisabeth Buchberger

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 17 (2019), Issue 3, Page 377 - 386

The idea of rights to institute legal proceedings given to environmental protection organisations challenges the idea of protection of individual rights given only to an individual and not to an organisation. It is therefore not surprising that Germany in the past was not very willing to guarantee rights to institute legal proceedings to organisations protecting nature and environment. The German legislator only created such rights because of European and public international law provisions and the jurisdiction of the ECJ and has further developed this right in recent years. This article presents the main features of this development.