Aarhus Convention and state aid regulations 

Main points:

• Swedish Enterprise is generally positive towards the Aarhus Convention itself. It is perfectly reasonable and important that the public is given sufficient information and the opportunity to participate in decision-making and access to legal review in environmental matters, as well as generally on other important social issues.
• The application of the Aarhus Convention in state aid matters is highly problematic. In practice, it would mean that the circle of possible complainants in the state aid approval process is significantly expanded. In particular, there is concern that this will lead to longer and more unpredictable processes.
• State Aid measures are, in themselves, not a physical activity and can thus never influence the environment. However, the economic activity that benefits from the State Aid may do so. If such an activity were to have an environmental effect of any sort, it would need to undergo national permit processes; these in turn could be appealed in court by the public or, in reality more often by non-governmental organisations. The State Aid recipient has thus already had its activity tried and tested, meaning that another process at EU level would constitute double legislation.
• Applying the Aarhus Convention in state aid matters risks being an obstacle to the green transition. Investment support is often provided by member states to accelerate the green transition and create more fossil-free energy production and energy supply. Increased uncertainty and longer processes may slow this extremely urgent transition. Environmental organisations have already shown themselves willing to block these types of projects; the establishment of both new hydroelectric as well as nuclear plants have been questioned.
• A better way to resolve this situation could be to complement the current State Aid notification processes. This could be made to include information on whether the beneficiary has already undergone national permit processes regarding its environmental impact, and whether the public have access to those processes and the opportunity to appeal the outcome. Thereby, the State Aid process will have built-in safeguards to ensure that the important principles in the convention are respected.