Is using the term ‘environmental information’ a magic formula? | 25 Section 3 of the Environmental Information Act 3 Environmental information shall mean any information held by public authorities or for them in written, visual, aural, electronic or any other material form irrespective of when the information was provided on (1) the state of the elements of the environment, such as air and atmosphere, water, soil, land, landscape and natural sites including wetlands, coastal and marine areas, biological diversity and its components, including genetically modified organisms, and the interaction among these elements, (2) factors, such as substances, energy, noise, radiation or waste, including radioactive waste, emissions, discharges and other releases into the environment, affecting or likely to affect the elements of the environment referred to in (1), to get access to the Ministry’s documents regarding the complaint about him. The Ministry withheld four documents about the Ministry’s handling of the criticism. The reason for this was that the Ministry considered the documents to be internal documents. The Ministry referred to a section of the new Access to Public Administration Files Act and did thus not agree that information stated in the four documents was environmental information. The Ombudsman disagreed. The Ombudsman found that the memorandum, which had been drawn up to form the basis for political discussions, contained environmental information. The journalist’s criticism was focused on the professional tenability of the Ministry’s memorandum. The journalist’s participation in the public debate about the memorandum (3) measures, including administrative measures, such as policies, legislation, plans, programmes, environmental agreements, and activities affecting or likely to affect the elements and factors referred to in (1) and (2) as well as measures or activities designed to protect those elements, (4) reports on the implementation of environmental legislation, (5) cost-benefit and other economic analyses and assumptions used within the framework of the measures and activities referred to in (3), and (6) the state of human health and safety, including the contamination of the food chain, where relevant, conditions of human life, cultural sites and built structures inasmuch as they are affected by the state of the elements of the environment referred to in (1) or, through those elements, by any of the matters referred to in (2) and (3). was an example of ‘effective’ participation by the public in environmental decision-making – and that was exactly an intended objective of the rules laid down by the EU legislator. The Ombudsman recommended that the Ministry reopen the case and make a decision according to the Environmental Information Act. The Ministry did so, but in the specific case this did not mean that the journalist was given access to the information requested. The reason was that pursuant to the Environmental Information Act internal documents could also be exempt from access and the rules regarding balancing of assessment rules did therefore not help the journalist. In this case, using the term ‘environmental information’ was therefore no magic formula.