Case C-121/11

Pro-Braine ASBL and Others

v

Commune de Braine-le-Château, intervener: Veolia es treatment SA

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Conseil d’État (Belgium))

‛(Directive 1999/31/EC — Landfill of waste — Directive 85/337/EEC — Assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment — Decision relating to the carrying on of operations at an authorised landfill site, in the absence of an Environmental Impact Assessment — Concept of ‘consent’)’

Summary of the Judgment

Environment — Assessment of the effects of certain projects on the environment — Directive 85/337 — Competent authorities obliged to carry out the assessment before they issue authorisation — Concept of ‘consent’ — Concept of ‘project’

(Council Directive 85/337, as amended by Directive 2003/35, Art. 1(2), and Annex II, point 13, first indent, and Council Directive 1999/31, Art. 14(b))

A definitive decision relating to the carrying on of operations at an existing landfill site, taken on the basis of a conditioning plan, pursuant to Article 14(b) of Directive 1999/31 on the landfill of waste, does not constitute ‘consent’ within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Directive 85/337 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, as amended by Directive 2003/35, unless that decision authorises a change to or extension of that installation or site, through works or interventions involving alterations to its physical aspect, which may have significant adverse effects on the environment within the meaning of point 13 of Annex II to Directive 85/337, and thus constitute a ‘project’ within the meaning of Article 1(2) of that Directive.

It is for the national court to ascertain whether that is the case. In the assessing of the existence of significant adverse effects on the environment, it should be taken into account that the conditioning plan approved by that definitive decision has as its objective — as is clear from recital 26 in the preamble to Directive 1999/31 — the adoption of the necessary measures for adapting an existing landfill site to that directive and that that decision therefore forms part of a policy for the protection of the environment.

(see paras 35-37, operative part)

Case C-121/11

Pro-Braine ASBL and Others

v

Commune de Braine-le-Château, intervener: Veolia es treatment SA

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Conseil d’État (Belgium))

‛(Directive 1999/31/EC — Landfill of waste — Directive 85/337/EEC — Assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment — Decision relating to the carrying on of operations at an authorised landfill site, in the absence of an Environmental Impact Assessment — Concept of ‘consent’)’

Summary of the Judgment

Environment — Assessment of the effects of certain projects on the environment — Directive 85/337 — Competent authorities obliged to carry out the assessment before they issue authorisation — Concept of ‘consent’ — Concept of ‘project’

(Council Directive 85/337, as amended by Directive 2003/35, Art. 1(2), and Annex II, point 13, first indent, and Council Directive 1999/31, Art. 14(b))

A definitive decision relating to the carrying on of operations at an existing landfill site, taken on the basis of a conditioning plan, pursuant to Article 14(b) of Directive 1999/31 on the landfill of waste, does not constitute ‘consent’ within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Directive 85/337 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, as amended by Directive 2003/35, unless that decision authorises a change to or extension of that installation or site, through works or interventions involving alterations to its physical aspect, which may have significant adverse effects on the environment within the meaning of point 13 of Annex II to Directive 85/337, and thus constitute a ‘project’ within the meaning of Article 1(2) of that Directive.

It is for the national court to ascertain whether that is the case. In the assessing of the existence of significant adverse effects on the environment, it should be taken into account that the conditioning plan approved by that definitive decision has as its objective — as is clear from recital 26 in the preamble to Directive 1999/31 — the adoption of the necessary measures for adapting an existing landfill site to that directive and that that decision therefore forms part of a policy for the protection of the environment.

(see paras 35-37, operative part)