CEPI (Classified Environmental Preservation Installation): classified industries public information and participation obligations

Environmental protection is based on the affirmation, at international level, of fundamental principles which not only express wishes or objectives, but also set out the results to be achieved. Translated into European law, and then transposed into national law, these principles generate rights for citizens and obligations for States.

In its Stockholm Declaration of June 16 1972 , the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment proclaimed the principle that man has a fundamental right to a quality environment. Twenty years later, the same Conference added to this principle by affirming that, at national level, every individual must have access to information relating to the environment and the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes . These two rights are based on the idea that "the best way to deal with environmental issues is to ensure the participation of all citizens at the appropriate level". If citizens were unable to control or, at any rate, discuss projects likely to affect the environment, the right to the environment would remain "wishful thinking" .

Public information and participation are complementary: it is considered that the involvement of citizens in decision-making cannot be envisaged without prior information. The exercise of these rights entails obligations on the part of public authorities, project developers and operators of facilities classified for environmental protection (ICPE). The purpose of this article is to identify the sources, players, procedures and limits of these obligations, in relation to the operation of facilities classified for environmental protection (ICPE).