CELEX: 51999PC0073
Language: en
Date: 1999-02-18
Title: Amended proposal for a Council Directive on assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment

25.3.1999           EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                                C 83/13
             Amended proposal for a Council Directive on assessment of the effects of certain plans and
                                            programmes on the environment (1)
                                                     (1999/C 83/04)
                                                 (Text with EEA relevance)
                                          COM(1999) 73 final Ð 96/304 (SYN)
                   (Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2) of the EC-Treaty on
                                                   22 February 1999)
             (1) OJ C 129, 25.4.1997, p. 14.
                     ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                               AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                         Recital 1
Whereas Article 130 r of the Treaty provides that                Whereas Article 130 r of the Treaty provides that
Community policy on the environment is to contribute             Community policy on the environment is to contribute
to the preservation, protection and improvement of               to the preservation, protection and improvement of
the quality of the environment, the protection of                the quality of the environment, the protection of
human health and the prudent and rational utilisation            human health and the prudent and rational utilisation
of natural resources and that it should be based on the          of natural resources and that it should be based on the
precautionary principle; whereas that necessitates,              precautionary principle; whereas that necessitates,
inter alia, the proper integration of environmental              inter alia, the proper integration of environmental
considerations into the plans and programmes which               considerations into the plans and programmes which
are adopted within Member States as part of the town             are prepared and adopted within Member States for
and country planning decision-making process for the             setting a framework for future development consents
purpose of establishing the framework for subsequent             (in particular those to which Council Directive
development consents (in particular those to which               85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the
Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the              effects of certain public and private projects on the
assessment of the effects of certain public and private          environment applies (2);
projects on the environment applies (2);
                                                     Recital 1a (new)
                                                                 whereas sustainable development, being a key
                                                                 objective of the Community, depends on sound
                                                                 management of natural resources and on the
                                                                 preservation of the equilibrium of the different
                                                                 ecosystems so that the needs of the present generation
                                                                 are met without compromising the ability of future
                                                                 generations to meet their own needs;
                                                         Recital 2
whereas this Directive aims at a high level of                   whereas this Directive aims at a high level of
protection of the environment through the attainment             protection of the environment and for progress
of the objectives provided for in Article 130r (1) of the        towards sustainable development through the
Treaty and is of a procedural nature, setting out an             attainment of the objectives provided for in
environmental assessment procedure to be followed by             Article 130r (1) of the Treaty and is of a procedural
the competent authority before the final decision is             nature, setting out a minimum environmental
taken in relation to plans and programmes likely to              assessment procedure to be followed by the competent
have an environmental impact;                                    authority before the final decision is taken in relation
                                                                 to plans and programmes likely to have environmental
                                                                 impact;
(2) OJ C 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.                                   (2) OJ C 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.
 ---pagebreak--- C 83/14             EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                              25.3.1999
                     ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                              AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                    Recital 3a (new)
                                                                whereas the adoption of environmental assessment
                                                                procedures at the planning and programming level will
                                                                benefit undertakings by providing a more consistent
                                                                framework in which to operate, and contribute to
                                                                economically more efficient or cost-effective solutions,
                                                                leading to the inclusion of a wider set of factors in
                                                                decision-making;
                                                        Recital 5
whereas the different environmental assessment                  whereas the different environmental assessment
systems operating within Member States are deficient            systems operating within Member States are deficient
because they do not cover all of the core plans and             because they do not cover all of the core plans and
programmes which establish the framework for                    programmes which set a framework for future consent
subsequent consent decisions and because they do not            decisions and because they do not always contain the
always contain the minimum procedural requirements              minimum procedural requirements necessary to ensure
necessary to ensure a high level of protection of the           a high level of protection of the environment;
environment;
                                                        Recital 7
whereas action is therefore required at Community               whereas action is therefore required at Community
level to establish a general environmental assessment           level to lay down a minimum environmental
framework which will remedy these deficiencies and              assessment framework which will remedy these
thereby contribute to the pursuit of the environmental          deficiencies and thereby contribute to the pursuit of
objectives set out in the Treaty;                               the environmental objectives set out in the Treaty;
                                                        Recital 9
whereas the plans and programmes which should be                whereas the plans and programmes which should be
assessed under this Directive are those plans and               assessed under this Directive are those plans and
programmes which are adopted as part of the town                programmes which are prepared and adopted within
and country planning decision-making process for the            Member States for setting a framework for future
purpose of establishing the framework for subsequent            development consents, including strategic plans
development-consents, including strategic plans                 and programmes in areas such as energy, waste,
and programmes adopted in the energy, waste,                    water, industry (including mineral extraction),
water, industry (including mineral extraction),                 telecommunications,      tourism,    certain   transport
telecommunications and tourism sectors, and certain             infrastructure plans and programmes, town and
transport infrastructure plans and programmes;                  country planning or land use;
                                                       Recital 11a
                                                                whereas, given the importance of the quality of the
                                                                environmental statement being an important factor
                                                                for the success and usefulness of environmental
                                                                assessment, Member States shall communicate to the
                                                                Commission how they ensure the quality of the
                                                                environmental statement;
 ---pagebreak--- 25.3.1999           EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                                 C 83/15
                    ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                                 AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                        Recital 12
whereas in order to ensure that the decision-making              whereas in order to ensure that the decision-making
process is transparent and that the information                  process is transparent and that the information
supplied for the assessment is comprehensive and                 supplied for the assessment is comprehensive and
reliable, it is necessary to provide that authorities            reliable, it is necessary to provide that authorities
and/or      bodies    with    relevant     environmental         and/or      bodies    with    relevant    environmental
responsibilities and the public are to be consulted              responsibilities and the public concerned are to be
during the assessment of plans and programmes;                   consulted during the assessment of plans and
                                                                 programmes, and that appropriate time frames are set,
                                                                 allowing sufficient time for consultations including the
                                                                 submission of comments;
                                                        Recital 14
whereas the results of the assessment should be taken            whereas the results of the assessment should be taken
into account by the competent authority before it                into account by the competent authority in particular
adopts the plan or programme or submits it to the                by making such alterations to the plan or programme
legislative procedure, on the understanding that the             as it considers appropriate before it adopts the plan or
power of assessment and the final decision remain                programme or submits it to the legislative procedure,
within the sole competence of this authority;                    on the understanding that the power of assessment
                                                                 and the final decision remain within the sole
                                                                 competence of this authority;
                                                        Recital 15
whereas the application and effectiveness of this                whereas a first report on the application and
Directive should be reviewed seven years after its entry         effectiveness of this Directive should be done by the
into force;                                                      Commission five years after its entry into force, and at
                                                                 seven-year intervals thereafter;
                                                         Article 1
the objective of this Directive is to provide for a high         the objective of this Directive is to provide for a high
level of protection of the environment by ensuring that          level of protection of the environment and for progress
an environmental assessment is carried out of certain            towards sustainable development by ensuring that in
plans and programmes and that the results of the                 accordance with the provisions of this Directive an
assessment are taken into account during the                     environmental assessment is carried out of certain
preparation and adoption of such plans and                       plans and programmes which are likely to have
programmes.                                                      environmental impact.
                                                         Article 2
For the purposes of this Directive:                              For the purposes of this Directive:
(a) plan' and programme'                                       (a) plans' and programmes'
    (i) refer only to town and country planning plans                (i) refer to plans and programmes
        and programmes
        Ð which are subject to preparation and                           Ð which are subject to preparation and
            adoption by a competent authority or                             adoption by a competent authority or
            which are prepared by a competent                                which are prepared by a competent
            authority for adoption by legislative act,                       authority for adoption by a legislative act,
            and                                                              and
 ---pagebreak--- C 83/16               EN              Official Journal of the European Communities                              25.3.1999
                      ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                                AMENDED PROPOSAL
         Ð which are part of the town and country                         Ð which set a framework for future
             planning decision-making process for the                         development consents of projects by making
             purpose of establishing the framework for                        reference to their location and, inter alia,
             subsequent development consents, and                             their nature, size or operating conditions,
                                                                              and
         Ð which contain provisions on the nature,
             size, location or operating conditions of
             projects
    (ii) include modifications of existing plans and                 (ii) include modifications of existing plans and
         programmes as described in point (i);                            programmes as described in point (i);
         this definition includes town and country                        this definition includes plans and programmes
         planning plans and programmes in sectors such                    in areas such as transport (including transport
         as transport (including transport corridors,                     corridors, port facilities and airports),
         port facilities and airports), energy, waste                     energy, waste management, water resource
         management, water resource management,                           management, industry (including extraction of
         industry (including extraction of mineral                        mineral      resources),    telecommunications,
         resources), telecommunications and tourism;                      tourism, town and country planning or land
                                                                          use;
(b) competent authority' means the authority which              (b) competent authority' means the authority or
    the Member States designate as responsible for                   authorities which the Member States designate as
    performing the duties arising from this Directive;               responsible for performing the duties arising from
                                                                     this Directive;
(c) development consent' means the decision of the              (c) development consent' means the decision which
    competent authority which entitles the developer                 entitles the developer to proceed with a project;
    to proceed with a project;
¼                                                                ¼
(e) environmental assessment' means the preparation             (e) environmental assessment' means the preparation
    of an environmental statement, the carrying out of               of an environmental statement, the carrying out
    consultations and the taking into account of the                 of consultations, the taking into account of
    environmental statement and the results of the                   the environmental statement and the results of
    consultations in accordance with Articles 5Ð8;                   the consultations in decision-making and the
                                                                     information on the decision in accordance with
                                                                     Articles 5Ð9;
                                                                 (ea)environmental statement' means a document
                                                                     containing the information required in Article 5
                                                                     and the Annex;
                                                    Article 4, 4a (new)
                                                                 4a.     The competent authority shall make available
                                                                 to the public concerned a statement of how and why
                                                                 the plan or programme was exempted under
                                                                 paragraphs 3 or 4;
 ---pagebreak--- 25.3.1999          EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                                  C 83/17
                    ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                               AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                        Article 5
1.     Where an environmental assessment is required            1.     Where an environmental assessment is required
under Article 4, the competent authority shall prepare          under Article 4, and for achieving the objectives set
an environmental statement containing the types of              out in Article 1 the competent authority shall prepare
information referred to in the Annex.                           an environmental statement containing the types of
                                                                information referred to in the Annex.
2.     The information included in the environmental            2.     In the environmental statement the significant
statement prepared pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be             direct and indirect effects of implementing the plan or
in such detail as may reasonably be required for the            programme on human beings, fauna, flora, soil, water,
purpose of assessing the significant direct and indirect        air, climate, landscape, material assets and the cultural
effects of implementing the plan or programme on                heritage as well as the interaction between these
human beings, fauna, flora, soil, water, air, climate,          factors shall be identified, described and assessed in an
landscape, material assets and the cultural heritage,           appropriate manner.
taking into account the level of detail in the plan or
programme, its stage in the decision-making process
and the extent to which certain matters can be more
appropriately assessed at different levels in that
process.
                                                                2a.     The information included in the environmental
                                                                statement prepared pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be
                                                                in such detail as may reasonably be required taking
                                                                into account the level of detail in the plan or
                                                                programme, its stage in the decision-making process
                                                                and the extent to which certain matters are more
                                                                appropriately assessed at different levels in that
                                                                process.
¼
4.     The environmental statement shall include a
non-technical summary of the information contained
in it.
                                                      Article 6 (2)
2.     The environmental authorities and/or bodies              2.     The environmental authorities and/or bodies
concerned and the public concerned shall be given an            concerned and the public concerned shall be given an
opportunity to express their opinion on the draft plan          opportunity within appropriate time frames allowing
or programme and the accompanying environmental                 sufficient time for expressing their opinion on the
statement before the adoption or submission to the              draft plan or programme and the accompanying
legislative procedure of the plan or programme.                 environmental statement before the adoption or
                                                                submission to the legislative procedure of the plan or
                                                                programme.
                                                        Article 8
The competent authority responsible for the adoption            The competents authority responsible for the
or submission to the legislative procedure of the plan          preparation and adoption or submission to the
or programme concerned shall take into consideration,           legislative procedure of the plan or programme shall
prior to such adoption or submission, the                       take into consideration, during the preparation and
environmental statement prepared pursuant to                    prior to such adoption or submission, the
Article 5, any opinions expressed pursuant to Article 6         environmental statement prepared pursuant to
and the results of the consultations entered into               Article 5, any opinions expressed pursuant to Article 6
pursuant to Article 7. The competent authority may,             and the results of the consultations entered into
in particular, make such alterations to the plan or             pursuant to Article 7. The competent authority may,
 ---pagebreak--- C 83/18             EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                               25.3.1999
                     ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                               AMENDED PROPOSAL
programme as it considers appropriate on the basis of            in particular, make such alterations to the plan or
the environmental statement and any such opinions                programme as it considers appropriate on the basis of
and consultations.                                               the environmental statement and any such opinions
                                                                 and consultations.
                                                  Article 11(2) and (3)
2.    Seven years after the entry into force of this            2.      Five years after the entry into force of this
Directive, the Commission shall send a report on the            Directive, the Commission shall send a first report on
application and effectiveness of the Directive to the           the application and effectiveness of the Directive to
European Parliament and to the Council.                          the European Parliament and to the Council. A new
                                                                 evaluation report shall then follow at seven-year
                                                                 intervals.
3.    Where appropriate, in the light of the report             3.      Where appropriate, in the light of the reports
referred to in paragraph 2, the Commission may                  referred to in paragraph 2, the Commission may
submit to the Council a proposal containing                     submit to the Council a proposals containing
amendments to this Directive.                                   amendments to this Directive.
                                                        Article 12
1.    Member States shall take the necessary                    1.      Member States shall take the necessary
legislative, regulatory and administrative provisions to        legislative, regulatory and administrative provisions to
comply with this Directive no later than 31 December            comply with this Directive no later than two years
1999. Member States shall forthwith inform the                  after its entry into force. Member States shall
Commission of the measures taken.                               forthwith inform the Commission of the measures
                                                                 taken.
When Member States adopt these provisions, these                 When Member States adopt these provisions, these
shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be          shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be
accompanied by such a reference at the time of their             accompanied by such a reference at the time of their
official publication. The procedure for such reference           official publication. The form of such reference shall
shall be adopted by Member States.                               be adopted by Member States.
                                                                 1a.     Member States shall communicate to the
                                                                 Commission how they ensure the quality of the
                                                                 environmental statement.
2.     Member States shall communicate to the                   2.      No later than two years after the entry into force
Commission the types of plans and programmes which              of this Directive Member States shall communicate to
they will submit to an environmental assessment                  the Commission a list of the types of plans and
pursuant to this Directive.                                     programmes which they will submit to an
                                                                environmental assessment pursuant to this Directive.
                                                                 By this date the Commission will make available such
                                                                 a list to the Member States.
                                                          Annex
Information on the following matters:                            Information on the following matters:
(a)   the contents of the plan or programme and its             (a)    the contents of the plan or programme and its
      main objectives;                                                 main objectives;
 ---pagebreak--- 25.3.1999           EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                               C 83/19
                     ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                              AMENDED PROPOSAL
(b)  the environmental characteristics of any area              (b)  a description of the zero-option' and reasonable
     likely to be significantly affected by the plan or              alternatives (such as alternative types of
     programme;                                                      development or alternative locations for
                                                                     development), including any modifications or
                                                                     mitigation measures considered, of achieving the
                                                                     objectives of the plan or programme;
(c)  any existing environmental problems which are              (c)  the environmental characteristics of any area
     relevant to the plan or programme including, in                 likely to be significantly affected by the plan or
     particular, those relating to any areas of                      programme and its reasonable alternatives
     particular environmental importance, such as                    including, in particular, those relating to any
     areas designated pursuant to Council Directives                 areas of particular environmental importance,
     79/409/EEC (3) and 92/43/EEC;                                   such as areas designated pursuant to Council
                                                                     Directives 79/409/EEC (3) and 92/43/EEC, or
                                                                     qualifying for designation;
¼                                                               (d)  any existing environmental problems which are
                                                                     relevant to the plan or programme and its
                                                                     reasonable alternatives;
(e)  the likely significant environmental effects of            (e)  the likely significant effects of implementing the
     implementing the plan or programme;                             plan or programme and its reasonable
                                                                     alternatives on the environment, comprising those
                                                                     on the areas mentioned under (c), including the
                                                                     consideration      of     secondary,   cumulative,
                                                                     synergistic, short, medium and long-term,
                                                                     permanent and temporary, positive and negative
                                                                     effects;
(f)  any alternative ways of achieving the objectives
     of the plan or programme which have been
     considered during its preparation (such as
     alternative types of development or alternative
     locations for development) and the reasons for
     not adopting these alternatives;
(g)  the measures envisaged to prevent, reduce and              (g)  the measures envisaged to prevent, reduce and as
     where possible offset any significant adverse                   fully as possible offset any significant adverse
     effects on the environment of implementing the                  effects on the environment of implementing the
     plan or programme.                                              plan or programme;
¼                                                               (ha) a statement outlining how the assessment was
                                                                     undertaken and the reasons for not adopting the
                                                                     alternatives considered;
                                                                (hb) a non-technical summary of the information
                                                                     provided under the above headings.
(1) OJ C 103, 25.4.1979, p. 1.                                  (1) OJ C 103, 25.4.1979, p. 1.