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Right to Know case over access to records on how RTÉ covers climate change is referred to Court of Justice of the EU
A key case on access to environmental information from public service broadcaster RTÉ has been referred to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU).
Using the Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) Regulations, Right to Know had sought copies of any overarching guidance that issued to reporters on how to cover the climate crisis as well as feedback from members of the public on their coverage.
Although RTÉ said there was no guidance and released some of the feedback, they have disputed that they are a “public authority” for the purposes of environmental info requests.
They have argued it could compromise press freedom even though the records sought would have no impact whatsoever on journalistic work or research.
However, the case has raised a Europe-wide question over whether public service broadcasters across the European Union should have to deal with such requests.
As part of the case, RTÉ gathered information from other EU broadcasters showing some were open to requests and others believed they were not.
There was roughly a one third/two thirds split with 8 (and a half*) saying they were subject to AIE and 18 (and a half) arguing they were not.
However, public service broadcasting is radically different in member states in terms of how it is funded and operated.
The High Court has now ruled, quite sensibly in our view, that the case should be referred to the Court of Justice of the EU.
The introduction to the judgment by Justice Richard Humphreys sets up the core question of the case very well.
He wrote: “How should the law balance the right of access to environmental information, which is particularly important in relation to the problem of false balance in media coverage of the climate emergency, with the right of public broadcasters to exercise their press freedom?”
The judgment is lengthy but can be summarised in a few key questions (somewhat simplified for reasons of space):
Is RTÉ a public authority for the purposes of requests made under the AIE Regulations?
Does a public authority have a duty to create a new record when answering an AIE request?
Is there a question over the procedures of the Commissioner for Environmental Information in dealing with requests in an expeditious manner?
Justice Humphreys concluded: “For the foregoing reasons, it is ordered that: the identified questions be in principle referred to the CJEU.”
You can read the full judgment below.
* The reference to ‘half and half’ of a broadcaster is from Denmark where the entity Danish Broadcasting is treated as a public authority whereas the TV station TV2 is not.
