Sir, – The draft Nature Restoration Law was recently passed, with amendments, in the European Parliament. The original text was prepared by the European Commission. Article 16, Access to Justice, set out the right of citizens to hold their government to account for failure to implement the Nature Restoration Law, “consistently with the objective of providing the public with wide access to justice”. It specifically upheld the right of non-governmental organisations to challenge the Government on failures to implement the law.
The European Parliament “amended” this section by deleting it in full.
The text and the fate of Article 16 will now be the subject of negotiation between European Parliament, the European Commission, and the Council of Ministers. Interest groups lobbied in Brussels for this deletion of citizens’ rights. It is time now for citizens to lobby for the reinsertion of this article in the Nature Restoration Law. – Yours, etc,
DENIS HEALY,
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Salthill,
Galway.