European Public Law Series, vol. CXIV, Thomas Gross (ed), Public Participation in Infrastructure Planning - Comparative Analysis of 10 European Countries, 394 pp., ISSN: 2308-8648, ISBN: 978-618-81128-9-6
Public participation in planning procedures is a topic of political debate in many European countries. Although there is some common ground in the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, known as Aarhus Convention, and in the EU Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive, the national rules on participation are quite divergent and often difficult to find.
This book provides a collection of national reports covering ten European countries (the six largest Member States of the EU and four other countries with particular legal traditions: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom) and a comparative analysis of the similarities and differences in the respective legal orders.
In order to find a compromise between the respect for the national roots of all legal orders and the accessibility of the collected information, the three major languages in the EU, English, German and French were chosen. Therefore only half of the contributors had to write in a foreign language. All national reports include an abstract in English and further references.
Thomas Gross studied law in Tübingen, Geneva and Heidelberg, where he received his doctorate and habilitation. After being professor in Giessen and Frankfurt/Main, he is now professor of public law, European law and comparative law in the European Legal Studies Institute of the University Osnabrück. He is a member of the European Group of Public Law since 1999.
