ABSTRACT
International law contains an increasing number of principles and rules which guide
states to improve their national environmental protection system.443 A good example
is the extensive set of such principles in the non-binding Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development (hereinafter ’the Rio Declaration’).444 As will be
shown below,445 many international treaties have incorporated corresponding rules
and principles. These harmonization norms are of great importance in the planning
stage o f stationary activities, for they require states to modify their national
environmental protection system to include prior procedures for studying the
potential environmental impacts of activities and for organizing the participation of the public o f the origin and the affected states. In many cases they also require that prior licencing systems be established for environmentally harmful activities.
