Your say is defined by the route you use, not by the room you sit in, and each route publishes its own clock. A UK environmental information request must be answered no later than 20 working days after receipt (time limits for compliance under the EIR), a European Commission public consultation stays open for 12 weeks (better regulation), and a European Citizens' Initiative needs at least 1 million signatures from at least 7 EU countries before the Commission owes any reply at all (how it works). The condition that changes the answer: a meeting with no route attached obliges nobody, however well it is run.
Three rights, not one
The European Commission describes the Aarhus Convention as guaranteeing the public access to environmental information, participation in environmental decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters, implemented in the EU by Directives 2003/4/EC and 2003/35/EC and applied to the EU's own institutions by Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006 as amended by Regulation (EU) 2021/1767 (Aarhus).
Those three do different jobs and are commonly confused at the point where it matters. Being told is not being asked. Being asked is not deciding. And the third right, access to justice, is the one that exists precisely because the first two get promised and not delivered. Before either of you argues about whether a process was fair, name which of the three you were actually offered.
The routes side by side
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| Route | Who can use it | What it obliges | The clock |
|---|---|---|---|
| Environmental information request (UK) | Anyone, to any UK public authority | An answer, or a stated refusal | 20 working days, extendable to 40 |
| Call for evidence (EU) | Anyone, on the Have your say portal | Publication of the feedback | 4 weeks open |
| Public consultation (EU) | Anyone, on the Have your say portal | Publication and a summary | 12 weeks open |
| European Citizens' Panel | Around 150 citizens drawn at random | Recommendations to the Commission | Three sessions |
| European Citizens' Initiative | Organisers plus 1 million signatories | A formal Commission response | 12 months to collect, 6 months to reply |
The European Commission puts a call for evidence at 4 weeks and a public consultation at 12 weeks, both published on the Have your say portal (better regulation). A European Citizens' Panel seats around 150 citizens drawn at random from all 27 member states, with at least two from each country and one third aged 16 to 29, across three sessions that end in recommendations to the Commission (European Citizens' Panels).
What each clock costs in real time
Example. Two people want the same park question answered and compare the shortest and longest routes on a calendar rather than on principle.
The information request is the short one: the ICO's 20 working days is four working weeks, extendable to 40 where the volume and complexity make the shorter limit impracticable, with the authority obliged to say so inside the original 20 (time limits for compliance under the EIR). A Commission public consultation at 12 weeks is 84 days of open window before anything is summarised (better regulation).
A citizens' initiative is a different order of commitment: 12 months to collect signatures, then up to 3 months for organisers to submit them, 3 months for national authorities to verify, and 6 months for the Commission to set out what action it will take — up to 24 months from the start of collection, with a meeting inside 1 month and a European Parliament hearing inside 3 months of submission (how it works).
One person owns the short route and sends the request; the other reads the long routes and reports which are open. That division stops the pair spending an evening on the 24-month option when the 20-working-day one answers the question. The wording of the short one is set out in from a neighbourhood observation to a council question.
Ask who is not in the room
Every route above has an entry cost, and the cost decides who appears. A 12-week online consultation reaches people who read the portal. A 4-week call for evidence reaches fewer. The citizens' panel is the only one on the list that fixes the composition in advance, guaranteeing at least two people per member state and reserving a third of the seats for 16- to 29-year-olds (European Citizens' Panels).
So when a body reports that "residents were consulted", ask through which route, for how many weeks, and what the entry cost was. Attendance at a well-photographed workshop obliges nobody; a submission on a named route obliges a published answer. Recording where the two of you agree and where you still differ, before either of you submits anything, is covered in a shared future without pretending to agree on everything.
Sources
- Time limits for compliance under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR)Accessed September 17, 2026
- Better regulationAccessed September 17, 2026
- European Citizens' Initiative: how it worksAccessed September 17, 2026
- Aarhus ConventionAccessed September 17, 2026
- European Citizens' PanelsAccessed September 17, 2026