62022CO0596_INF
Order of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 28 February 2023 –Kreis Gütersloh
(Case C‑596/22) (
1
)
(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Article 99 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice – Environment – Assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment – Directive 2011/92/EU – Obligation to carry out an environmental impact assessment or a case-by-case examination – Cumulative effects of projects – Construction of a building for the rearing of broilers adjacent to similar buildings)
1.
Questions referred for a preliminary ruling – Answer admitting of no reasonable doubt – Questions the answer to which may be clearly deduced from the Court’s existing case-law – Application of Article 99 of the Rules of Procedure
(Art. 267 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice, Art. 99)
(see paragraphs 24, 25)
2.
Environment – Assessment of the effects of certain projects on the environment – Directive 2011/92 – Making the projects listed in Annex II to the Directive subject to assessment – Account taken of the cumulative effect of a project with other projects – National legislation limiting the obligation to examine that cumulative effect only to projects linked by joint facilities – Not permissible
(European Parliament and Council Directive 2011/92, as amended by Directive 2014/52, Art. 4(3) and Annex III, points 1(b) and 3(g))
(see paragraphs 27-34, operative part 1)
3.
Environment – Assessment of the effects of certain projects on the environment – Directive 2011/92 – Making the projects listed in Annex II to the Directive subject to assessment – Case-by-case examination – National legislation providing only for such an examination in respect of projects falling, individually, below the threshold provided for in Annex I – Whether permissible – Account taken of the cumulative effect of such a project with other projects – Project meeting the threshold provided for in Annex I when taken together with other projects – Indication of a project likely to have significant effects on the environment
(European Parliament and Council Directive 2011/92, as amended by Directive 2014/52, Arts 2(1), 4(2)(a) and Annexes I, point 17(a), and II)
(see paragraphs 37-47, operative part 2)
Operative part
1.
Article 4(3) of Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014, read in conjunction with point 1(b) and point 3(g) of Annex III to Directive 2011/92, as amended,
must be interpreted as precluding legislation of a Member State under which the obligation to examine a project’s potential impact jointly with other projects is limited to situations in which the planned installation and those other projects are linked by joint facilities.
2.
Directive 2011/92, as amended by Directive 2014/52,
must be interpreted as not precluding legislation of a Member State which provides only for a case-by-case examination within the meaning of Article 4(2)(a) of Directive 2011/92, as amended, with regard to a project which, individually, falls below the threshold provided for in point 17(a) of Annex I to Directive 2011/92, as amended, but meets that threshold where it is considered jointly with other projects. In the context of that case-by-case examination, the fact that such a project meets that threshold where it is taken together with other projects may nevertheless be an indication that that project is likely to have significant effects on the environment, within the meaning of Article 2(1) of Directive 2011/92, as amended.
(
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)	OJ C 463, 5.12.2022.