The Avosetta Group is a small informal group of lawyers whose main purpose is to further the
development of environmental law in the European Union and its Member States. "Avosetta"
is the Latin name of a rare bird which caused the European Court of Justice to establish far
reaching principles of European nature protection law in the German Leybucht Case. The group
held its inaugural meeting at Bremen University in January 2001.

Those participating in Avosetta are invited out of recognition of their outstanding distinction in
European environmental law, and take part in a personal and independent capacity. Nevertheless,
Avosetta discussions aim to reflect a comprehensive cross-section of legal cultures within Europe,
and will generally include up to two participants from each Member and accession State.

The group meets about once a year in order to discuss a topic of significance for EU environmental
law. The meeting will normally result in policy recommendations which shall be submitted to
the EU-institutions and also published for wider use in the Member States.

The proceedings of the meeting and accompanying discussion documents are accessible through
the present website. Opinions of the Avosetta Group can be found here.

Secretariat: Institute of German, European and International Public Law, Schillerstraße 1, 91052 Erlangen,
Email: europarecht@fau.de