Twaalf lidstaten moeten wetgeving aanpassen aan EU-richtlijnen voor milieu-effectrapportage (en)
The European Commission has sent twelve Member States a final written warning - last step before a referral to the European Court of Justice - for failing to incorporate into national law an EU law aimed at assessing the environmental impacts of a wide range of plans and programmes. These include, for example, plans on land use, road construction or waste management. National laws should have been in place by 21 July 2004. The Member States concerned are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Finland (concerning the province of Åland only), Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal and Slovakia. The EU law in question - known as the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive - seeks to ensure that national decision-makers examine the environmental effects of plans and programmes before approving them. It thereby contributes to better management of finite natural resources and reduces the possibility of environmental harm. The actions are part of a series of environment-related infringement decisions against several Member States which the Commission is currently announcing.
;Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: "The SEA Directive is an important step forward in achieving sustainable development in the EU and gives the public more influence on decisions affecting the environment. The fact that 12 Member States have still not finalised their national legislation is just not good enough."
;Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
;Adopted in 2001, the SEA Directive[1] complements the EU's 1985 Environmental Impact Assessment Directive[2]. Whereas the earlier Directive is concerned with assessing the environmental effects of projects, the later one seeks to ensure that more strategic decisions on plans and programmes are also assessed in advance. The Directive covers land-use as well as sectoral plans and programmes such as those relating to transport. It requires impacts on the natural and man-made environment to be examined and the public to be consulted before decisions are taken. The national transposing legislation fell due in July 2004 (see IP/04/975).
;Legal Process
;Article 226 of the Treaty gives the Commission powers to take legal action against a Member State that is not respecting its obligations.
;If the Commission considers that there may be an infringement of EU law that warrants the opening of an infringement procedure, it addresses a "Letter of Formal Notice" (first written warning) to the Member State concerned, requesting it to submit its observations by a specified date, usually two months.
;In the light of the reply or absence of a reply from the Member State concerned, the Commission may decide to address a "Reasoned Opinion" (final written warning) to the Member State. This clearly and definitively sets out the reasons why it considers there to have been an infringement of EU law and calls upon the Member State to comply within a specified period, normally two months.
;If the Member State fails to comply with the Reasoned Opinion, the Commission may decide to bring the case before the European Court of Justice.
;Follow-up procedure
;Article 228 of the Treaty gives the Commission power to act against a Member State that does not comply with a previous judgement of the European Court of Justice, again by issuing a first written warning ("Letter of Formal Notice") and then a second and final written warning ("Reasoned Opinion"). Article 228 then allows the Commission to ask the Court to impose a financial penalty on the Member State concerned.
;For current statistics on infringements in general see:
;http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm#infractions
;For rulings by the European Court of Justice see:
;http://curia.eu.int/en/content/juris/index.htm
; ;;[1] Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment
;[2] Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment