No Right To Anonymity: CJEU Upholds Identification Requirements For Environmental Information Requests

On 15 January 2026, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “CJEU”) held that Member States can require applicants requesting environmental information to provide their real name and address, following a preliminary ruling request from the Irish High Court in Coillte v Commissioner of Environmental Information [2024] IEHC 28.

The High Court had asked the CJEU to consider whether Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on public access to environmental information (the “Directive”) granted requesters a right to anonymity when making a request. The Directive was transposed into Irish law by the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007-2018 (the “Irish Regulations”). Article 6(1)(c) of the Irish Regulations provides that a request for environmental information (an “AIE request”) must state the name, address and any other relevant contact details of the applicant.