Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2011:490
Date: 2011-07-14
Language of the case: English
Subject matter: Environment
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: United Kingdom

Summary of the Judgment 1. Environment – Assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment – Directive 2001/42 – Consultations – Authority to be consulted (European Parliament and Council Directive 2001/42, Art. 6(3)) 2. Environment – Assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment – Directive 2001/42 – Consultations – Obligation, for the Member State, to give the authorities and the public a sufficient period to express their opinions – Scope (European Parliament and Council Directive 2001/42, Art. 6(2)(3) and (4)) 1. In circumstances in which, for part of a Member State’s territory having decentralised powers, a single authority is designated pursuant to Article 6(3) of Directive 2001/42 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment, that provision does not require the creating or designating of another authority to be consulted within the meaning of that provision, so long as, within the authority usually responsible for undertaking consultation on environmental matters and designated as such, the separation of functions is so arranged that an administrative entity internal to it enjoys real autonomy, meaning, in particular, that it is provided with administrative and human resources of its own and is thus in a position to fulfil the tasks entrusted to authorities to be consulted for the purposes of Article 6(3) of that directive and, in particular, to give an objective opinion on the plan or programme envisaged by the authority to which it is attached. (see paras 41, 43, operative part 1) 2. Article 6(2) of Directive 2001/42 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment must be interpreted as not requiring the national legislation transposing the directive to lay down precisely the periods within which the authorities designated and the public affected or likely to be affected for the purposes of Article 6(3) and (4) should be able to express their opinions on a particular draft plan or programme and on the environmental report upon it. Consequently, Article 6(2) does not preclude such periods from being laid down on a case-by-case basis by the authority which prepares the plan or programme. However, in that latter situation, for the purposes of the consultation of those authorities and the public on a given draft plan or programme, Article 6(2) requires the period actually laid down to be sufficient and thus to allow them a genuine opportunity of expressing their opinions in good time on that draft plan or programme and on the report on the environmental effects of that plan or programme. (see para. 50, operative part 2)