The EIA directive

AuthorDirectorate-General for Environment (European Commission)
Pages43-144
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Part II - The EIA Directive
Article 1
Article 1 as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU
1. This Directive shall apply to the assessment of the
environmental effects of those public and private
projects which are likely to have significant effects
on the environment.
2. For the purposes of this Directive:
(a) ‘project’ means:
the execution of construction works or of other
installations or schemes,
other interventions in the natural surroundings
and landscape including those involving the
extraction of mineral resources;
(b) ‘developer’ means:
the applicant for authorization for a private project
or the public authority which initiates a project;
(c) ‘development consent’ means:
the decision of the competent authority or authorities
which entitles the developer to proceed with the
project;
(d) ‘public’ means one or more natural or legal
persons and, in accordance with national legislation
or practice, their associations, organisations or
groups;
(e) ‘public concerned’ means the public
affected or likely to be affected by, or having an
interest in, the environmental decision-making
procedures referred to in Article 2(2); for the
purposes of this definition, non -governmental
organisations promoting environmental protection
and meeting any requirements under national law
shall be deemed to have an interest.
(f) 'competent authority or authorities' means
that authority or those authorities which the Member
States designate as responsible for performing the
duties arising from this Directive.
3. Member States may decide, on a case-by-case
basis if so provided under national law, not to apply
this Directive to projects serving national defence
purposes, if they deem that such application would
have an adverse effect on these purposes.
4. This Directive shall not apply to projects the
1. This Directive shall apply to the assessment of the
environmental effects of those public and private
projects which are likely to have significant effects
on the environment.
2. For the purposes of this Directive, the following
definitions shall apply:
(a) ‘project’ means:
the execution of construction works or of other
installations or schemes,
other interventions in the natural surroundings
and landscape including those involving the
extraction of mineral resources;
(b) ‘developer’ means the applicant for authorisation
for a private project or the public authority which
initiates a project;
(c) ‘d evelopment consent’ means the decision of the
competent authority or authorities which entitles the
developer to proceed with the project;
(d) ‘public’ means one or more natural or legal
persons and, in accordance with national legislation
or practice, their associations, organisations or
groups;
(e) ‘public concerned’ means the public affected or
likely to be affected by, or having an interest in, the
environmental decision- making procedures referred
to in Article 2(2). For the purposes of this definition,
non-governmental organisations promoting
environmental protection and meeting any
requirements under national law shall be deemed to
have an interest;
(f) ‘competent authority or authorities’ means that
authority or those authorities which the Member
States designate as responsible for performing the
duties arising from this Directive;
(g) ‘environmental impact assessm ent’ means a
process consisting of:
(i) the preparation of an environmental impact
assessment report by the developer, as referred to in
Article 5(1) and (2);
(ii) the carrying out of consultations as referred to in
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details of which are adopted by a specific act of
national legislation, since the objectives of this
Directive, including that of supplying information,
are achieved through the legislative process.1
Article 6 and, where relevant, Article 7;
(iii) the examination by the competent authority of
the information presented in the environmental
impact assessment report and any supplementary
information provided, where necessary, by the
developer in accordance with Article 5(3), and any
relevant information received through the
consultations under Articles 6 and 7;
(iv) the reasoned conclusion by the competent
authority on the significant effects of the project on
the environment, taking into account the results of
the examination referred to in point (iii) and, where
appropriate, its own supplementary examination; and
(v) the integration of the competent authority's
reasoned conclusion into any of the decisions
referred to in Article 8a.
3. Member States may decide, on a case-by-case basis
and if so provided under national law, not to apply
this Directive to projects, or parts of projects, having
defence as their sole purpose, or to projects having
the response to civil emergencies as their sole
purpose, if they deem that such application would
have an adverse effect on those purposes.
According to the case-law of the Court:
Purpose of the EIA Directive
It follows from Article 1(1) of, and from the first, third, fifth and sixth recitals in the preamble
to, Directive 85/337 that the purpose of that directive is an assessment of the effects of
public and private projects on the environment in order to attain one of the
Community’s objectives in the sphere of the protection of the environment and the
quality of life. The information which must be supplied by the developer in accordance with
Article 5(1) of, and Annex IV to, Directive 85/337, as well as the criteria which enable
Member States to determine whether small-scale projects, meeting the characteristics laid
down in Annex III to that directive, require a environmental assessment, also relate to that
purpose.
(Leth, C-420/11, EU:C:2013:166, paragraph 28)
1 Please note that Directive 2014/52/EU removed Art. 1(4) and the exemptions for projects adopted by specific acts of
national legislation are regulated under Art. 2(5).
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Project
The term 'project' refers to works and physical intervetions in Article 1(2) of Directive
(Abraham and O thers, C-2/07, EU:C:2008:133;, Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest and Others,
C-275/09, EU:C:2011:154, paragraph 20)
The renewal of an existing permit (to operate an airport) cannot, in the absence of any
works or interventions involving alterations to the physical aspect of the site, be classified as
a ‘project’ within the meaning of the second indent of Article 1(2) of Directive 85/337.
(Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest and Others, C-275/09, EU:C:2011:154, paragraph 24; Pro-
Braine and Others, C-121/11, EU:C:2012:225, paragraph 31; Inter-Environnement Wallonie
ASBL and Bond Beter Leefmilieu Vlaanderen, C-411/17, ECLI:EU:C:2019:622, paragraphs 61-62;
Friends of the Irish Environment, C-254/19, ECLI:EU:C:2020, paragraph 32)
The evidence available to the Court indicates that the measures at issue in the main
proceedings entail major work on the Doel 1 and Doel 2 power stations to upgrade them and
ensure that current safety standards are met, as demonstrated by the EUR 700 million
investment budget earmarked for those power stations.
According to the order for reference, the Agreement of 30 November 2015 makes provision
for a ‘rejuvenation’ investment plan, which describes that work as what is needed in order to
extend the operational life of both power stations and includes, in particular, investment
approved by the AFCN under the LTO plan for the replacement of facilities due to ageing and
the upgrading of other facilities, along with changes to be introduced under the Fourth
Periodical Safety Review and stress tests carried out in the wake of the accident in Fukushima
(Japan).
In particular, the documents provided to the Court indicate that work will focus, in particular,
on upgrading the containment structures of the Doel 1 and Doel 2 power stations, renewal of
the spent fuel pools, building a new pumping station and adaptation of the base to offer better
protection to the power stations against flooding. That work would not be limited to
improvements to existing structures, but would also involve the construction of three
buildings, two to host ventilation systems and a third as a fire protection structure. Work of
that nature is such as to alter the physical aspect of the sites in question, within the
meaning of the Court’s case-law.
In the light of those various factors, measures such as those at issue in the main proceedings
cannot be artificially dissociated from the work to which they are inextricably linked
when assessing, in the present instance, whether they constitute a project within the
meaning of the first indent of Article 1(2)(a) of the EIA Directive. It must therefore be
held that such measures and the upgrading work inextricably linked thereto together
constitute a single project within the meaning of that provision, subject to findings of fact that
are for the referring court to make.

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