ΔΙΚΤΥΟ ΕΥΡΩΠΑΪΚΩΝ ΠΕΡΙΟΔΙΚΩΝ ΠΕΡΙΒΑΛΛΟΝΤΙΚΟΥ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ
Παρασκευή 5 Μαΐου 2000
NETWORK OF EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW JOURNALS
Offering a forum of exchanging views and experiences, the project focused on the feasibility and advisability of establishing a Network of European Environmental Law Journals. The very interesting exchange of views during the meeting and the final contributions of the participating Editorial Committees revealed a set of facts and ideas, which can be grouped as follows:
– A workable Network should, primarily, take account of the fact that there are two categories of people involved in the process of editing an Environmental Law Journal. The first one consists of the editorial board of the Journals, the second one is connected with the scientific board and external collaborations of each Journal. An independent environmental law institute is a usual form of organisation of the second category.
– Some of the Journals are clearly “market oriented” while some others preserve the strict scientific image (i.e. non-profit) of a traditional edition.
– There are many and various practices concerning editing, on-line presentation, activities and affiliation of every Journal, both mutually useful and propitious for the establishment of different types of collaboration.
– Consequently, these parameters, together with a series of practical aspects, should be further studied in order to create a Network based on a concrete action plan.
Six Environmental Law Journals participated actively to the meeting (namely: Νόμος και Φύση (Law and Nature) and Περιβάλλον και Δίκαιο (Environment and Law) from Greece, Journal of Environmental Law and Review of European Community and International Environmental Law from the UK, Revue juridique de l΄ environnement from France, Rivista giuridica dellΆAmbiente from Italy). Meanwhile five other Journals, regretting for the fact that they could not send a representative, expressed their wish to be informed for the outcome of the meeting and to be affiliated to the future Network (namely: Das Recht der Umwelt from Austria, Zeitschrift für öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht from Germany, Medio Ambiente y Derecho from Spain, Revista Juridica do Urbanismo e do Ambiente from Portugal, Environmental Law Review from the UK).
Following a respective memorandum of understanding, further steps have taken place:
i. A written presentation of the identity and the activities of each of the involved Journals has been sent to Law and Nature and circulated among the participants to the meeting.
ii. A wide exchange of national environmental law data (case law, bibliography, articles, chronicles) should be encouraged and some practical aspects (subscription, advertising, discounted copies) of its realization should be further studied in detail.
iii. The legal form of the Network as well as the utility of the creation of a common website should be examined. It was suggested that a pertinent form could be that of a groupement européen d΄ interêt économique.
iv. The feasibility of the organization of an annual conference on a specific environmental law topic should be studied. In this context and on the margin of a conference, a regular meeting of the Network could be convened, and, additionally, an Award of the Network could be granted to extraordinary and environmentally related activities within the EU.
v. The scheme and activities finally chosen should be open to participation of any interested European Environmental Law Journal in the future.
