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What would the defense of the environment in the Constitution actually change?

2020-12-15T15:49:51.765Z


The organization of a referendum by the end of the five-year term in 2022 is uncertain, but the result, if positive, would not be forced


The chef's surprise.

Emmanuel Macron "unsheathed" by surprise Monday the holding of a referendum on the introduction of the defense of the environment in the Constitution, during a meeting with the members of the Citizen's Convention for the Climate (CCC).

Political coup or ecological awareness?

The opposition and the opinion are lost in conjectures, so many obstacles there are on the road to this constitutional amendment.

Let us imagine, however, that it succeeds, an essential question remains: what would change, in concrete terms, for citizens?

Will they be able to oppose more easily projects that they deem incompatible with the defense of the environment?

Will it be easier to catch the Sages?

Response elements.

Protecting the environment is already constitutional

First, few people are aware of it, but there are already “environmental supports” in the French constitution.

Indeed, the founding text of our democracy, which has undergone several “grooming” since 1958, has already been backed since 2005 by the 2004 environmental charter, as it can be with the declaration of human rights and of the citizen.

"This charter offers a lot of resources to what is called in legal language the" block of constitutionality "explains lawyer Nicolas Hervieu contacted by Le Parisien.

Concretely, this charter introduced new principles, rights and duties in connection with respect for the environment into French law.

It has constitutional value.

The first three articles are crystal clear: “Everyone has the right to live in a balanced environment that respects health” (art. 1), “Everyone has the duty to take part in the preservation and to the improvement of the environment "(art.2)," Every person must, under the conditions defined by law, prevent the damage that he is likely to cause to the environment or, failing that, limit the damage. consequences ”(art.3).

defines this charter.

It also enshrines the precautionary principle (art. 5).

Thus, when damage is likely to affect the environment, public authorities must implement risk assessment procedures and adopt provisional measures to prevent the damage from occurring.

What will this really change?

Emmanuel Macron specified that this consultation would relate to "a constitutional reform in one article" to "introduce the concepts of biodiversity, the environment, the fight against global warming" in article 1. "Integrate the defense of the environment in article 1 of the constitution will not fundamentally change the situation from a legal point of view ”, analyzes our specialist in public law.

On the form already, "whether one touches on article 1 or 89, it has the same legal value" explains the teacher at Sciences-po.

Basically, the objective is to be able to "prevent the adoption of laws which do not sufficiently protect the environment", but in fact, the Constitutional Council already has very protective case law.

“In January 2020, the Council established an objective of constitutional values ​​(OVC) of environmental protection designated as“ common heritage of human beings ”.

Its objectives: to prevent the legislator from adopting texts contrary to environmental requirements.

But also to allow the legislator to adopt texts which make it possible to go against another "freedom" such as that to undertake for example ".

Thus, for example, still in January 2020, the Constitutional Council did not censure a law which prohibited the ban on the export of pesticides outside the EU, which nevertheless was opposed to economic freedom, but the goal environmental protection prevailed.

Will the remedies be more effective?

“We are not going to witness an explosion in environmental disputes.

The appeals that could have been filed will eventually be strengthened a little by these new constitutional arguments, ”says Nicolas Hervieu.

Concretely, if you add "principles" in the constitution, you give more weapons to be able to act to the lawyers.

For priority questions of constitutionality (Editor's note: any person, party to a lawsuit, can argue that a new legislative provision is contrary to the rights and freedoms that the Constitution) which could be raised it is the same thing.

"This will give a little more argument but it will not be radical in terms of change," says the teacher at the University of Evry.

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"But if the legislator does nothing, if we do not adopt binding legislative texts to set this wish to music, if we do not allocate the means where necessary, it will not change anything" to the climate or to the environment also specifies the advice, to get back to the heart of the issues.

Source: leparis

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