Environmental information: Member States allowed to require disclosure of requester identity (CJEU)

EU Member States may now require prior identification of persons requesting environmental information from public authorities, according to a jugdment by the Court of Justice of the European Union on 14/01/2026.

This decision was taken in response to a request from the Irish court for the European Court of Justice to interpret the Directive on public access to environmental information. The aim was to rule on the "right to submit requests for access to information anonymously".

At least, this is what Coillte, a commercial forestry company partly owned by the Irish State, was contesting before Ireland's Commissioner for Environmental Information. The Commissioner found that out of 81 decisions rejecting access requests, 58 were invalid "under Irish national rules".

Although the directive "does not require disclosure of the real name or current physical address of a person requesting environmental information, it does not preclude such information from being requested by the national authorities", the Court stated.

In the case of Coillte, the company stated that it had received "130…