FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UN: EU violates Aarhus Convention
The Compliance Committee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which enforces the Aarhus Convention to which the EU is a party, has issued draft findings and recommendations which criticize the European Commission for failing to abide by the terms of the Convention with regards to the determination of its renewable energy policy (1). Today the plaintiff, Mr. Pat Swords, a chemical engineer critical of the way the EU imposes its “half-baked policy” to Members States, communicated the Committee’s decision to the European Platform against Windfarms (EPAW). Draft recommendations are unlikely to be substantially modified when, after an ultimate input from the parties, they are converted into final ones.
The Compliance Committee found that the EU did not comply with the provisions of the Convention in connection with its programme “20% renewable energy by 2020”, and its implementation throughout the 27 Member States by National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAP). In particular, the Committee opines that the EU did not ensure that the public had been provided with the necessary information within a transparent and fair framework, allowing sufficient time for citizens to become informed and to participate effectively in the decision process.
Says Pat Swords: “this is an important decision, because the EU’s renewable energy programme as it currently stands is now proceeding without ‘proper authority’. The public’s right to be informed and to participate in its development and implementation has been by-passed. A process will now be started to ensure that the Committee’s recommendations are addressed; if ultimately they are not, then UNECE has the option of requiring the EU to withdraw from the UN Convention on Human and Environmental Rights.”
The Aarhus Convention requires that public participation occur when all options are still open, not when policies are already set in stone. Furthermore, the authorities have to ensure and document that in the resulting decision, due account is taken of the outcome of public participation. “In the EU,” remarks the engineer, “what we’ve had is a travesty of public participation in a policy having hugely negative impacts on the environment and the economy.”
Mark Duchamp, Executive Director of EPAW, points that Mr. Swords initiated his recourse one and a half years ago, as it was already obvious that the European Commission was imposing an enormously costly and ineffective policy to EU Members States without properly investigating the pros and cons. “It is high time that Brussels be held accountable for the hundreds of billions that have been squandered without a reality check on policy effectiveness” says Mark. “To spend so much money, a positive has to be proven. – It hasn’t.”
Duchamp, who also happens to be an environmentalist and is chairman of the non-conformist NGO World Council for Nature, remarks that never has Europe’s environment been the object of so much destruction in so little time. “Even natural reserves, set up at great cost to the taxpayer, have been allowed to be invaded by industrial wind turbines,” he laments. “I presented objections to a number of eagle-killer wind projects, but the impression I get is that they were not even read. The Aarhus Convention is only being given lip service in Europe. The UNECE findings confirm this.”
Finally, there is another ‘twist to this tale’, says Pat Swords: “as the Convention is part of EU law, there is now a legal ruling that this law has not been complied with. There are long established legal procedures where if a Member State does not comply with EU law, the citizen can seek ‘damages made good’ (2). A can of worms has been opened,” warns Pat.
He continues: “Electricity costs are soaring to implement these dysfunctional policies, which have by-passed proper and legally-required technical, economic and environmental assessments. Not only is the landscape being scarred as thousands of wind farms are being installed, but people in the vicinity are suffering health impacts from low frequency noise, while birdlife and other wildlife is also adversely impacted. It is long overdue that a STOP was put to this type of illegal and dysfunctional policy development and project planning.”
Contacts:
Pat Swords, BE CEng FIChemE CEnv MIEMA
Chemical engineer
+353 1 443 4831 (Ireland) Skype: pat_swords
Mark Duchamp +34 693 643 736 (Spain) Skype: mark.duchamp
Executive Director, EPAW
Chairman, World Council for Nature
References:
(1) – Draft findings of 29 April 2012, communicated on May 4th by the Compliance Committee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE): http://www.unece.org/env/pp/compliance/Compliancecommittee/54TableEU.html Last items at the bottom of the page (as at this date), namely “draft findings” and “letters to the parties”
Short video explaining the Aarhus Convention: http://www.unece.org/env/pp/vid-presentation.html
(2) – http://ec.europa.eu/eu_law/infringements/infringements_dommages_en.htm
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…why does it take so long to do something
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
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So, he’s planning on suing the EU? Good luck with that.
Another reason for the US to leave the UN. It’s all politics and corruption and the sad thing is everybody knows it and does not do a single thing about it. It’s like a bad fart in a crowd, everyone smells it but no one will say anything about it.(snip)
WIBD! Look at Para 84, 86, 87, and 97 and 98.
http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/pp/compliance/C2010-54/Correspondence with Party concerned/C-54_EU_Draft_Findings29Apr12.doc
Para 84:
What penalties will practically result is anyone’s guess, but this Don Quixote struck a hit, very palpable hit.
Is Pat_s words his real name, or something made up for tiltling at windmills ?
While I agree that these energy mandates are, on whole, economically and environmentally destructive, I have to smile at a title like “Chairman, World Council for Nature”. It is so modest.
the link in 3:51pm broke. This is the proper one. A 15 page, 98 paragraph Word Doc.
http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/pp/compliance/C2010-54/Correspondence%20with%20Party%20concerned/C-54_EU_Draft_Findings29Apr12.doc
Hehe. What happens if the EU court issues a temporary moratorium on all EU wind projects pending further decision. That would be so sweet to watch.
says Pat Swords: “as the Convention is part of EU law, there is now a legal ruling that this law has not been complied with. There are long established legal procedures where if a Member State does not comply with EU law, the citizen can seek ‘damages made good’ (2). A can of worms has been opened,” warns Pat.
No kidding?
In more ways than can be unravelled by anything other then collapse and re-construction.
Pat Swords is indeed his real name. As an Irishman I am very happy at this result.
here is the man himself..
http://blip.tv/reliveproductions/pat-swords-talks-on-his-challenge-for-freedom-of-information-in-ireland-6020391
Pat, Go n-éirí an bóthar leat !!!
Heggs.
p.s. Dem = them, Dis = this etc, we don’t pronounce h’s much 🙂
There’ll be more of this. The UK Climate Change Act is so ridiculous that people of the UK could prevent almost any long term building project from going ahead simply by requiring the project to demonstrate how it can reduce its emissions by 80% by 2050 (ie emit only 20% of the CO2 any current development emits). I’ll bet nothing much in the way of housing development can be done with that millstone around its neck.
the sooner the sponginge beaurocrats in brussels are disbanded the better………bunch of sycophantic ar$e licking tw&ts almost to a man/woman….
sorry, but until someone can show me a single benefit from the EU – it’s a no-no from me – and everything they have ever done has been for self procrastination……..
Simple really, move the entire entity of the United Nations to a luxury liner so that they can legislate and meet in a style befitting their lofty positions. They can ply the waters of the world and conduct meeting after meeting in the warm tropical waters, free from the image of being a US pawn that they get from having their headquarters in New York.
Then all it would take are a few Harpoon ASCMs to get rid of the problem.
The EU ‘government’ is typically socialist … at all costs don’t involve the People, just order them to the Socialist thinking. There’s a striking resemblance the conduct of the EU comrades and the old USSR.
@ur momisugly jack morrow,
“Another reason for the US to leave the UN”
Indeed.
If the USA left the UN, it would guarantee at least two things;
1. NYC could kick out a lot of career foreign criminals [delegates], thugs – [‘bodyguards’] and despotic loons [UN staff] – though the NYC sex industry would be screaming blue murder.
2.Without funding [from the US taxpayer] the UN would have to be wound up.
Double whammy.
Billy Liar says:
May 19, 2012 at 4:18 pm
There’ll be more of this. The UK Climate Change Act is so ridiculous that people of the UK could prevent almost any long term building project from going ahead simply by requiring the project to demonstrate how it can reduce its emissions by 80% by 2050 (ie emit only 20% of the CO2 any current development emits). I’ll bet nothing much in the way of housing development can be done with that millstone around its neck.
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Lol, it is highly questionable that even the windmills do that. http://suyts.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/new-science-study-demonstrates-futility-of-soft-renewables/
There’s quit a bit of CO2 emissions going into building whirly gigs. So, if they include that in their calculations, 80% reduction in 38years seems a bit of a stretch.
“then UNECE has the option of requiring the EU to withdraw from the UN Convention on Human and Environmental Rights.”
Can someone explain how this would hurt the EU in any way, shape, or form?
tell the left wing socialist fascists to jump in the lake with a lead weight strapped to them.
[Figuratively speaking, of course. ~dbs, mod.]
“Illegal and dysfunctional”; a good description of the EU, which is a fascist power bloc that exists to make a single nation of its member-states, something that Napoleon and Hitler failed to do.
The UN wanted to create fear of a catastrophe and it did. Frightened out of their wits, governments proceeded with projects to save the world. Their various projects resulted in environmental, economic and social catastrophes. Now the UN is supposed to be trusted to settle things?
Wow. Oh please, let this go on. I hope this doesn’t just sit there while the EU carries on as though nothing is amiss. The whole pack of CAGW con-artists seem to do nothing else but ignore everything chucked at it, advancing their agenda no matter what. Time to stop these crazies.
imoira says:
May 19, 2012 at 5:09 pm
“Now the UN is supposed to be trusted to settle things?”
No, of course the UN and the Eu will somehow wiggle out of this contradiction. But it will take a lot of contortions and will be fun to watch.
GeoLurking says:
May 19, 2012 at 4:34 pm
“Simple really, move the entire entity of the United Nations to a luxury liner…”
My counter proposal is that UN Headquarters be moved to any of the following, Mogadishu, Niamey, Kinsha, Maputo or another nearby African capital city.
“US out of the UN, and UN out of the US!!” The current United Nations is bad for all free peoples of the world. We don’t want the US to evolve into an EU type system.