The Commission has decided to take further steps in legal action against Germany for failing to respect the Community Directive on Access to Environmental Information. The Commission has decided to lodge an application before the European Court of Justice against Germany for its failure to fully respect the Community's Directive on Access to Environmental Information (Council Directive 90/313/EEC on the freedom of access to information on the environment). This decision demonstrates the Commission's commitment to ensuring that citizens benefit in full from the disclosure provisions of the Directive. Community environmental policy recognises that citizen information and citizen participation are crucial to raising environmental awareness and to promoting best environmental practice. The Directive reflects this recognition by creating a general right of access to environmental information held by public authorities. The decision taken reflects the Commission's concern that Germany's implementing legislation is too restrictive in its access provisions. This results in certain types of information being unjustifiably excluded from the scope the German legislation. The decision also reflects the Commission's concern that in some circumstances the public is charged an excessive amount of money for the information requested (the Directive allows a financial charge for information requested but this must be reasonable). ***
