ABSTRACT
One of the ‘barriers’ transport policy has to deal with concerns the environmental conflicts surrounding the implementation of infrastructure projects. Since the end of the eighties, the public’s increased interest in the decision-making process has driven legislators to imagine new legal procedures to enhance public acceptance. In France this has led to the institutionalisation of the public debate as a formal procedure in the decision-making process; the public debate is complementary to the public inquiry which characterises the traditional consultation framework. The main disadvantage of the latter is that it only allows for citizen participation at a late stage in the project planning phase, i.e. when most technical and other issues relating to the project have already been decided upon. Under the current legislative framework, concerned populations and territorial actors are invited to express their opinion on the project plans early in the decision-making process.
