Abstract
After reviewing the development of public participation in environmental decision making, empirical/theoretical principles for public participation are proposed, based on Habermas's theory of communicative action. These principles are used to assess the Aarhus convention (AC), as well as the implications of the AC for the interpretation of EIA directive 85/337/EEC (amended by directive 97/11/EC) and the proposed directive on SEA.The results show that the AC falls short of the proposed principles in four fundamental aspects: (1) its need to ensure the participation of cognitively and lingually non-competent actors; (2) the need to have a two-way communication process; (3) the need to ensure normative and subjective claims are adequately recognised; and (4) the need to establish conflict management procedures. As well, the results show that the AC will set stricter standards for the interpretation of the public participation provisions in both the EIA directive and the proposed SEA directive.
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