EU: Environmental NGOs sue over right to biofuel data
Published: 03/09/2010, 12:05:13 PM
Four environmental groups have sued the European Union's executive for withholding documents they say will add to a growing dossier of evidence that biofuels harm the environment and push up food prices, according to Reuters.
The lawsuit, lodged with the EU's General Court, the bloc's second highest court, alleges several violations of European laws on transparency and democracy.
But the European Commission countered that the action was premature as it had not formally refused access and had already released many of the 8,000 pages requested.
The suit was filed on Monday by ClientEarth, Transport & Environment, the European Environmental Bureau, and BirdLife International.
"That the Commission should choose to deny our rights on such a critical issue as the science underpinning our climate policies is astounding," said Tim Grabiel, staff attorney at ClientEarth.
The four groups first sought access to the documents on October 15, and said the European Commission missed a legal deadline to release them under freedom of information laws on February 9. Some reports have been released, but not all.
"Formally, the applicant is entitled to bring these proceedings," said Commission spokesman Mark Gray. "However, we made it perfectly clear that we are not rejecting her application, but are carrying out a concrete and individual assessment of the requested documents."
"The issue is whether the Commission can be expected to handle such bulky and complex requests within the normal time frames," Gray added.
A similar request by Reuters has led to the release of 118 reports and e-mails, which reveal worries within the Commission that the EU set its 10% goal before fully assessing the impact of biofuel targets.