The EIA Directive

The Commission tabled a proposal for a directive on EIA in 1980,^[1] but it took until 1985 before Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (EIA Directive) was adopted.^{[2] [3]} It was significantly amended in 1997 in order to make the EIA procedure apply in a more harmonised and efficient manner.5 Further significant amendments were introduced in 2003, this time to strengthen the requirements on public participation and access to justice.^[4] In 2011 the amendments were codified in Directive 2011/ 92/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment.^[5] Forming part of the EU’s environmental policy, the Directive is based on Article 192(1) TFEU.

The codified Directive was significantly amended in 2014 in order to strengthen the quality of the EIA procedure, align the procedure with the principles of smart regulation, and enhance coherence and synergies with other Union legislation and policies. The intention was to achieve simplified and harmonised procedures while at the same time ensuring improvement of the environmental protection derived from the EIA procedure.^[6]

The EIA Directive is deceptively short and, compared to many other EU legal acts, drafted in a fairly comprehensible way. However, its transposition and application in the Member States has generated a large number of cases before the Court of Justice. The huge differences in the number of EIAs historically carried out in similarly sized Member States also testify to the discrepant ways in which Member States have interpreted and given effect to core provisions of the Directive.^[7] The Directive predominantly establishes procedural requirements rather than ones that guarantee a specific outcome in terms of environmental protection.

• [1] Proposal for a Council Directive concerning the assessment of the environmental effects of certainpublic and private projects [1980] OJ No C 169/14.
• [2] [1985] OJ L 175/40.
• [3] Council Directive 97/11/EC amending Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects ofcertain public and private projects on the environment [1997] OJ L 73/5.
• [4] Directive 2003/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council providing for public participation in respect of the drawing up of certain plans and programmes relating to the environmentand amending with regard to public participation and access to justice Council Directives 85/337/EECand 96/61/EC [2003] OJ L 156/17, Art 3.
• [5] [2012] OJ L 26/1.
• [6] Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment [2014]OJ L 124/1, preambular paras 3 and 6. On the balance between simplification and improvement of theprotection of the environment, see H T Anker ‘Simplifying EU Environmental Legislation: Reviewingthe EIA Directive?’ (2014) 11 Journal for European Environmental & Planning Law 321-47.
• [7] Commission Staff Working Paper—Impact Assessment Accompanying the Document Proposalfor a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2011/92/EU onthe assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (26 October 2012) SWD(2012) 355 final, 5.