To ensure that individuals can defend their rights against damage to health caused by infringements of this Regulation and thereby ensure its more efficient enforcement, non-governmental organisations promoting the protection of human health or the environment or those promoting the protection of consumers and meeting any requirements under national law, as members of the public concerned, should be empowered to engage in proceedings, as the Member States so determine, either on behalf or in support of any victim, without prejudice to national rules of procedure concerning representation and defence before the courts. Member States usually enjoy procedural autonomy to ensure an effective remedy against violations of Union law, subject to the respect of the principles of equivalence and effectiveness. However, experience shows that, while there is overwhelming epidemiologic evidence on the negative health impacts of pollution on the population, it is not straightforward to make a direct link between a specific loss of plastic pellets and specific impacts on human health or the environment, and such impacts are generally also not immediate.
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.
