Directive 1997/11 - Amendment of Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment - Main contents

official title

 

Legal instrument	Directive
Number legal act	Directive 1997/11
Original proposal	COM(1993)575
CELEX number i	31997L0011

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Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 amending Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment

Official Journal L 073 , 14/03/1997 P. 0005 - 0015

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 amending Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 130s (1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (3),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189c of the Treaty (4),

• (1) 

  Whereas Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (5) aims at providing the competent authorities with relevant information to enable them to take a decision on a specific project in full knowledge of the project's likely significant impact on the environment; whereas the assessment procedure is a fundamental instrument of environmental policy as defined in Article 130r of the Treaty and of the Fifth Community Programme of policy and action in relation to the environment and sustainable development;

• (2) 

  Whereas, pursuant to Article 130r (2) of the Treaty, Community policy on the environment is based on the precautionary principle and on the principle that preventive action should be taken, that environmental damage should as a priority be rectified at source and that the polluter should pay;

• (3) 

  Whereas the main principles of the assessment of environmental effects should be harmonized and whereas the Member States may lay down stricter rules to protect the environment;

• (4) 

  Whereas experience acquired in environmental impact assessment, as recorded in the report on the implementation of Directive 85/337/EEC, adopted by the Commission on 2 April 1993, shows that it is necessary to introduce provisions designed to clarify, supplement and improve the rules on the assessment procedure, in order to ensure that the Directive is applied in an increasingly harmonized and efficient manner;

• (5) 

  Whereas projects for which an assessment is required should be subject to a requirement for development consent; whereas the assessment should be carried out before such consent is granted;

• (6) 

  Whereas it is appropriate to make additions to the list of projects which have significant effects on the environment and which must on that account as a rule be made subject to systematic assessment;

• (7) 

  Whereas projects of other types may not have significant effects on the environment in every case; whereas these projects should be assessed where Member States consider they are likely to have significant effects on the environment;

• (8) 

  Whereas Member States may set thresholds or criteria for the purpose of determining which such projects should be subject to assessment on the basis of the significance of their environmental effects; whereas Member States should not be required to examine projects below those thresholds or outside those criteria on a case-by-case basis;

• (9) 

  Whereas when setting such thresholds or criteria or examining projects on a case-by-case basis for the purpose of determining which projects should be subject to assessment on the basis of their significant environmental effects, Member States should take account of the relevant selection criteria set out in this Directive; whereas, in accordance with the subsidiarity principle, the Member States are in the best position to apply these criteria in specific instances;

• (10) 

  Whereas the existence of...

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