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BackThere have been many developments over the last three decades, in particular from a socio-political and technical point of view, which shall now be taken into account. There have also been several rulings of the European Court of Justice, which shall now be integrated in the new legislative text.
After the European Commission had already introduced its proposal on the Environmental Impact Assessment at the end of last year, both Council and European Parliament are now working on their positions. Andrea Zanoni, the MEP mainly responsible for the European Parliament, has now presented his Report early this week.
In addition to current criteria, the Directive shall now also take biodiversity, the use of natural resources, climate change and the risk of natural disasters into account. According to the rapporteur, it is the intention to involve the public more than before in all phases of the environmental assessment. This might reduce the number and the cost of legal disputes. The independence of the responsible authorities was vital to avoid conflicts of interest, said Zanoni. In case of projects that have a very negative impact on the environment there shall also be an ex-post assessment combined with the obligation to take corrective measures, should the result turn out to be negative. The rapporteur also intends to include the exploration of shale gas and oil in the Directive, as otherwise such projects would not be subject to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
In contrast, Françoise Grossetête of the European People's Party is worried that the new Directive might bring too much bureaucracy, which could draw out proceedings. However, she is in favour of protecting the landscape.
MEP Pavel Poc of the Social Democrats is in favour of assessing all projects. The public should always be consulted. He supports the proposal of ex-post monitoring. In addition, he is in favour of an information portal for each individual Member State.
Sandrine Bélier of the Greens welcomes the Report by MEP Zanoni and emphasises in particular the importance of an independent expert. Additionally proposed criteria such as biodiversity or the use of natural resources should definitely remain in the text. She also requests an environmental impact study for EIAs.
The representatives of the European Conservatives and the faction for a Europe of Nations mainly regard the Environmental Impact Assessment as a cost factor and fear additional planning delays in respect of the various projects. The presented proposals would not have a clear benefit.
The fact that the rapporteur is anxious that his Report is transparent and that he names all organisations, he was in contact with concerning the Directive proposal on the Environmental Impact Assessment or who sent him a statement, must be regarded as positive. The Chamber of Labour, which provided the rapporteur with the AK Position, has also been mentioned.
The MEPs of the Environmental Committee now have the opportunity of contributing additional amendment proposals. The Environmental Committee will probably vote on the Report and any amendments in July; adopting the Report in the plenum itself has been scheduled for October.