Environmental impact procedures are a topic of broad interest. With increasing awareness of the importance of a healthy, safe and generally liveable environment, various stakeholders are engaged in decision-making processes regarding such interventions. Beyond the primary proponents of development—typically the state, municipalities, or private individuals—third parties who may be affected by these developments also participate in these procedures to protect their rights and assert procedural rights.
In many cases, the procedural right to intervene is extended to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as advocates of public interest related to environmental protection, nature conservation, spatial planning, and access to information on environmental decision-making.
Reviewing relevant international frameworks, particularly the Aarhus Convention and European legal sources, I identify the requirements and standards that national legislation must incorporate. After verification, I apply these findings to the Slovenian legal framework and confirm my first hypothesis: the adequacy of Slovenia's legal framework in light of supranational requirements.
However, I address certain open questions that lead to my second hypothesis regarding NGOs' (in)effectiveness in these decision-making processes. I examine a broader concept of nature protection, which may not be immediately apparent, and develop a formulation of the public interest to investigate the full scope of what it may constitute. Based on my findings, I neither fully confirm nor reject the second hypothesis but conclude that a holistic approach is the most appropriate means to understand this complex subject.
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