​The second pillar of the Aarhus Convention is public participation in decision-making related to the environment. The Convention provides a framework for the public to take part in decisions relating to the environment at an early stage, and thus making the project, development or plan more likely to be acceptable, more sustainable and less damaging to the environment.

Public participation is provided for at EU level through the Directive on public participation in respect of the drawing up of certain plans and programmes relating to the Environment and amending with regard to public participation and access to justice Council Directives 85/337/EEC and 96/61/EC (2003/35/EC). Malta transposed the provisions of this Directive into Maltese law by Article 469A of the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure (Cap. 12)  and the following Legal Notices:

• the Plans and Programmes (Public Participation) Regulations (S.L. 549.41);
• the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Regulations (S.L. 549.77);
• the Freedom of Access to Information on the Environment Regulations (S.L. 549.39);
• the Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations (S.L. 424.19);
• the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations (S.L. 549.46);
• the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register Reporting Obligations Regulations (S.L. 549.47); and
• the Strategic Environmental Assessment Regulations (S.L. 549.61)​.

Public consultation on permits, plans and programmes issued by the Environment and Resources Authority can be viewed as follows:
Environmental permits
Plans and programmes

Information about planning permissions and plans is available on the Planning Authority website.

All documents issued by Government for public consultation are available here.