Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2012:378
Date: 2012-06-21
Language of the case: Greek
Court formation: Eighth Chamber
Subject matter: Environment
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Greece

Summary of the Judgment Environment — Assessment of the effects of certain projects on the environment — Directive 2001/42 — Requirement for competent authorities to carry out an assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment — Conditions — Risk of a significant effect on the site concerned (European Parliament and Council Directive 2001/42, Art. 3(2)(b); Council Directives 79/409, Art 4(1) and (2), and 92/43, Arts 4(5), 6(3) and 7) Article 3(2)(b) of Directive 2001/42 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment must be interpreted as meaning that the obligation to make a particular plan subject to an environmental assessment depends on the preconditions requiring an assessment under Directive 92/43 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, as amended by Directive 2006/105, including the condition that the plan may have a significant effect on the site concerned, being met in respect of that plan. The examination carried out to determine whether that latter condition is fulfilled is necessarily limited to the question as to whether it can be excluded, on the basis of objective information, that that plan or project will have a significant effect on the site concerned. (see para. 24, operative part)