On 20th December an agreement was reached by the European Parliament, European Council and European Commission on the proposed text for the revision of EU EIA Directive 2011/92/EU. The agreement follows much wrangling between the three bodies with numerous areas of disagreement. The Lithuanian Presidency of the EU has brokered the agreement reintroducing amendments that had previously been removed by the Irish Presidency.
Review of the latest text is awaited, however TNEI understand that provisions which have made it through from the previous text include:
- Addition of new topics including climate change, soil, habitats, sustainability, land and biodiversity;
- The requirement to use qualified and competent experts (either to undertake the EIA or to review it on behalf of the competent authority);
- A requirement that Member States ensure the implementation of mitigation and compensation measures;
- Clearer requirements within the directive relating to information and public participation; and
- The requirement for the description of reasonable alternatives including the “‘do nothing’ scenario.
Other changes that were proposed in the October 2012 draft and that are expected to have remained include the effective merging of the Screening and Scoping process so that a far more detailed report is required examining the likely significant effects before a Screening Opinion is received and revised timescales both for this more detailed Screening process and for decision making.
Confirmation is awaited on the treatment of fracking in the latest text. In October 2013 the EU Parliament narrowly voted in favour of an amendment to the current EIA Directive which added the application of hydraulic fracturing for extraction of oil or gas to Annex 1 and therefore making and EIA for all such activities mandatory. However, it appears that pressure from Member States has meant that projects including fracking were not added to Annex 1 of the proposed revision so that the Competent Authority would continue to decide whether an EIA is required.
A vote in the European Parliament on the revision text is anticipated within the next couple of months and if this passes then it seems likely that the new Directive will be formalised ahead of the European Elections in May 2014. The UK is likely to then have up to 2 years to transpose the revised Directive into legislation.
TNEI will provide further updates as the process continues. For more details on the proposed changes and how they are likely to affect your projects, please contact Jason McGray on 0191 211 1430 or via jason.mcgray@tnei.co.uk.
