@misc{9226992,
  abstract     = {{In June of 2023 the Swedish government appointed an inquiry, which took the name Miljötillståndsutredningen, with the purpose of revising and streamlining the Swedish environmental permitting process. In January of 2025 the inquiry presented its first report, which proposed comprehensive changes. This in part regarding the competent authority for the permitting process as well as when and how participation between the affected authorities, individuals, and the applicant should be carried out.

As regards Sweden, public participation is regulated both nationally through the Swedish Environmental Code, and internationally through the Aarhus Convention and several EU directives. Through these instruments, requirements are set which stipulate that participation with the affected public is to be held at an early stage and allow for effective participation and impact. The Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) have produced some case law on the matter, but the exact point at which public participation at the latest must be secured is not conclusively clarified. In light of the above, this thesis aims to clarify which requirements exist as regards the public’s right to early participation in environmental processes, and how the inquiry’s proposed changes to public participation in Sweden relate to these requirements.

The current Swedish system offers two opportunities for public participation: an undersökningssamråd regarding whether an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is necessary, and an avgränsningssamråd regarding the delimitations of said EIA. The inquiry proposes that these two are to be removed in favour of a system with one comprehensive opportunity for public participation, a so called offentligt samråd. This is to be held after the applicant’s EIA is deemed sufficient and the application is considered satisfactory. This in order to adapt Swedish law to the EU’s minimum requirements. Additionally, the inquiry suggests that a new authority, Miljöprövningsmyndigheten, is to take over responsibility for the environmental permitting process.

This thesis concludes that the proposed changes, upon consideration of all relevant factors, are likely in breach of the Aarhus Convention’s and EU’s requirements regarding early public participation. This especially considering the ACCC’s case law regarding the requirement that the process is in an early stage and regarding prohibited localisation decisions. This case law is difficult to reconcile with the Swedish system of participation after the applicant’s EIA has already been deemed sufficient. From an EU perspective the changes also seem incompatible, as the EIA Directive, the Renewables Directive and the CJEU require actual possibility for effective participation, something that seems difficult to achieve when the process is as far gone as is being proposed here.}},
  author       = {{Bökman, David}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Har vi råd med samråd? - Miljötillståndsutredningens samrådsförslag och kravet på allmänhetens tidiga deltagande}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}