Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2011:755
Date: 2011-11-17
Language of the case: French
Subject matter: Environment
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Belgium

Summary of the Judgment 1. Environment — Assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment — Directive 2001/42 — Plan and programme — Concept — Specific land development plans which are provided for by national legislation but whose adoption is not compulsory — Included (European Parliament and Council Directive 2001/42, Art. 2(a)) 2. Environment — Assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment — Directive 2001/42 — Plan and programme — Concept — National procedure for the total or partial repeal of a land use plan — Included (European Parliament and Council Directive 2001/42, Art. 2(a)) 1. The concept of plans and programmes which are required by legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions, which appears in Article 2(a) of Directive 2001/42 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment, must be interpreted as also concerning specific land development plans whose adoption is not compulsory. A contrary interpretation would have the consequence of restricting considerably the scope of the scrutiny, established by the directive, of the environmental effects of plans and programmes concerning town and country planning of the Member States. Consequently, such an interpretation of that provision, by appreciably restricting the latter’s scope, would compromise, in part, the practical effect of the directive, having regard to its objective, which consists in providing for a high level of protection of the environment. (see paras 29, 30, 32, operative part 1) 2. Article 2(a) of Directive 2001/42 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment must be interpreted as meaning that a national procedure for the total or partial repeal of a land use plan falls in principle within the scope of that directive, so that it is subject to the rules relating to the assessment of effects on the environment that are laid down by the directive. On the other hand, in principle that is not the case if the repealed measure falls within a hierarchy of town and country planning measures, as long as those measures lay down sufficiently precise rules governing land use, they have themselves been the subject of an assessment of their environmental effects and it may reasonably be considered that the interests which Directive 2001/42 is designed to protect have been taken into account sufficiently within that framework. (see paras 42, 43, operative part 2)