Improving European Water Resources: Prodding Private Enforcement of European Environmental Law with Human Rights

Abstract

In the European Union (EU), may private citizens or organizations go to court to seek penalties or injunctions against private polluters? Environmental advocates and human rights lawyers have long answered this question in the negative. Unlike in the United States, laws in the EU have not explicitly authorized citizen suits – lawsuits filed by private parties to enforce environmental laws when public officials choose not to do so. The absence of citizen enforcement mechanisms, however, has contributed to poor implementation of Europe’s water regulations. In fact, half of Europe’s water does not qualify for “good ecological status.” The Article develops new analytical approaches for advancing water resource management and environmental advocacy through a human rights approach. Human rights litigation automatically permits private parties to sue both state and non-state actors. Thus, private EU citizens can sue water polluters by asserting violations of their fundamental right to water. In the EU, fundamental rights must enjoy support from three distinct legal sources: community law, constitutional traditions of EU member states, and international law. While the EU Court of Justice has yet to recognize environmental rights, this article demonstrates that all three legal sources fully support recognition of the right to water. Hence, private citizens should be able to file lawsuits against water polluters and improve Europe’s water quality in the process.