Commission staff working document - Accompanying document to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on implementing European Community Environmental Law - Summary of the impact assessment {COM(2008) 773 final} {SEC(2008) 2851}
Date: 2008-11-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: drafting of EU law, environmental law, environmental protection, right to justice

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 18.11.2008 
SEC(2008) 2852 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

Accompanying document to the  

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 

on implementing European Community Environmental Law 

SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT 

{COM(2008) 773 final} 
{SEC(2008) 2851} 

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COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  

Executive Summary of the Impact Assessment 

Follow-up on the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the 
European Parliament on 
Implementing European Community Environmental Law 

Executive Summary 

One  of  the  core  activities  of  the  European  Commission  is  to  promote  compliance  with 
Community law. The Commission as guardian of the Treaty has the key role in ensuring that 
all  Member  States  apply  the  rules.  The  objective  of  the  Communication  on  Implementing 
European  Community  Environmental  Law  is  to  provide  an  updated  insight  into  those 
workings: in particular, outlining some of the substantial changes that have occurred since the 
Commission  last  adopted  such  a  Communication  in  19961  and  setting  out  what  action  is 
proposed  in  the  environmental  sector  to  supplement  the  recently  adopted  Commission 
Communication: A Europe of Results — Applying Community Law2 (hereafter referred to as 
“the Horizontal Communication”). 

The  Communication  on  Implementing  European  Community  Environmental  Law  describes 
the work currently being undertaken by the Commission on the enforcement and application 
of  environmental  law,  together  with  some  options  for  improving  on  current  practice.  The 
adoption  of  the  Horizontal  Communication  has  given  additional  impetus  to  these 
improvements. As well as providing an insight into current practices, the Communication on 
Implementing  European  Community  Environmental  Law  looks  at  ways  in  which  it  can 
supplement the Horizontal Communication.  

This  impact  assessment  focuses  on  areas  where  new  initiatives  are  proposed,  trying  to 
quantify their likely impact and looking at alternatives to the actions proposed.  

The  options  assessed  are  the  no-action  option,  under  which  complaints  lodged  with  the 
Commission and petitions from the European Parliament for which the Commission provides 
an input would all continue to be handled in Brussels and without any particular priority being 
given to defined case groups. The advantages and disadvantages are assessed.  

The  option  of  placing  increased  emphasis  on  the  prevention  of  breaches  is  then  analysed, 
looking at what is already being done in this area and at some additional measures that could 
be taken to supplement this area of work.  

The impact assessment then goes on to look at the option of the Commission providing a local 
physical presence in the Commission representation offices of four Member States as a pilot 
scheme in order to bring the Commission closer to the people and the national authorities and 
to  provide  for  improved  feedback  to  the  Commission  in  Brussels  regarding  the  situation  on 
the ground.  

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Implementing EC environmental law, October 1996. 
COM(2007) 225. 

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The option of the Commission becoming more focused in its handling of important cases is 
then  also  looked  at,  adopting  the  priorities  outlined  in  the  Horizontal  Communication,  but 
supplementing these with priority areas in the environmental sector, such as breaches of core 
responsibilities  involving  EU  funding  or  cases  that  have  a  trans-frontier  dimension,  and 
systemic  breaches  which  are  geographically  widespread  or  repeated  despite  previous 
warnings.  

Finally, the impact assessment looks at the positive and negative effects of the Commission 
focusing more on its own powers of investigation and taking environmental cases before the 
European Court of Justice.  

The impact assessment concludes that the best option is a combination of approaches which 
increases the focus on preventative action, launches the pilot project for a local physical staff 
presence  in  the  Commission  representation  offices  of  four  selected  Member  States,  and 
focuses more on its handling of important cases.  

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