The Council of Ministers has approved the Bill regulating the rights of access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters. The legal text, which has been presented by the Ministries of Environment and Justice, will be sent to the Cortes to begin the parliamentary process. In July, it was reviewed by the Council of Ministers and sent, for mandatory reports, to the Council of the Judiciary and the Economic and Social Council, as well as to the Council of State.

With this new text, the Aarhus Convention is incorporated into Spanish legislation, which obliges the signatory states – Spain is one of them – to guarantee public participation in decision-making that affects the environment, while ensuring citizens the rights of access to environmental information, and to justice in environmental matters. The Bill is based on the criteria established by basic norms such as the Spanish Constitution, the Rio Declaration and the EU directives on information and public participation.