Compagnie d'entreprises CFE SA v Région de Bruxelles-Capitale.
Date: 2019-06-12
36


Second, given the objective of the SEA Directive, which is to provide for so high a level of protection of the environment, the provisions which delimit the directive’s scope, in particular those setting out the definitions of the measures envisaged by the directive, must be interpreted broadly (judgments of 7 June 2018, Inter-Environnement Bruxelles and Others, C‑671/16, EU:C:2018:403, paragraphs 32 to 34 and the case-law cited, and, of the same date, Thybaut and Others, C‑160/17, EU:C:2018:401, paragraphs 38 to 40 and the case-law cited).
37


Lastly, it should be noted that SACs are designated by the three-stage process set out in Article 4 of the Habitats Directive. At the first stage, under Article 4(1) of that directive, each Member State proposes a list of sites indicating which natural habitat types and native species they host, and that list is transmitted to the Commission. At the second stage, under Article 4(2), the Commission establishes, in agreement with each Member State, a draft list of SCIs drawn from the Member States’ lists. On the basis of that draft list, the Commission adopts the list of selected sites. At the third stage, under Article 4(4), once an SCI has been adopted, the Member State concerned designates it as an SAC as soon as possible and within 6 years at most, establishing priorities in the light of the importance of the sites for the maintenance or restoration, at a favourable conservation status, of a natural habitat type or species and for the coherence of Natura 2000.
41


It must be borne in mind, however, that, in relation to Directive 85/337, the Court has previously held that the fact that projects should have beneficial effects on the environment is not relevant in determining whether it is necessary to make those projects subject to an assessment of their environmental impact (judgment of 25 July 2008, Ecologistas en Acción-CODA, C‑142/07, EU:C:2008:445, paragraph 41).
44


As regards the reference to Articles 6 and 7 of the Habitats Directive in Article 3(2)(b) of the SEA Directive, it must be noted that, in accordance with Article 4(5) of the Habitats Directive, the protective measures prescribed in Article 6(2) to (4) of that directive are required once a site which, in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 4(2) of that directive, is placed on the list of sites selected as SCIs as adopted by the Commission (judgment of 14 January 2016, Grüne Liga Sachsen and Others, C‑399/14, EU:C:2016:10, paragraph 32 and the case-law cited).
48


In that regard, the Court has previously held that the existence of a plan or project not directly connected with or necessary to the management of a protected site depends essentially on the nature of the intervention at issue (see, to that effect, judgment of 17 April 2018, Commission v Poland (Białowieża Forest), C‑441/17, EU:C:2018:255, paragraph 125).
54


The Court has interpreted that provision as meaning that plans and programmes whose adoption is regulated by national legislative or regulatory provisions, which determine the competent authorities for adopting them and the procedure for preparing them, must be regarded as ‘required’ within the meaning, and for the application, of the SEA Directive and, accordingly, be subject to an assessment of their environmental effects in the circumstances which it lays down (judgments of 22 March 2012, Inter-Environnement Bruxelles and Others, C‑567/10, EU:C:2012:159, paragraph 31, and of 7 June 2018, Thybaut and Others, C‑160/17, EU:C:2018:401, paragraph 43).
61


In that regard, the Court has held that the notion of ‘plans and programmes’ relates to any measure which establishes, by defining rules and procedures, a significant body of criteria and detailed rules for the grant and implementation of one or more projects likely to have significant effects on the environment (judgments of 27 October 2016, D’Oultremont and Others, C‑290/15, EU:C:2016:816, paragraph 49 and the case-law cited, and of 8 May 2019, Verdi Ambiente e Società (VAS) — Aps Onlus and Others, C‑305/18, EU:C:2019:384, paragraph 50 and the case-law cited).
64


It is apparent from the judgments of 7 June 2018, Inter-Environnement Bruxelles and Others (C‑671/16, EU:C:2018:403, paragraph 55), and Thybaut and Others (C‑160/17, EU:C:2018:401, paragraph 55), that the concept of ‘a significant body of criteria and detailed rules’ must be construed qualitatively.
69


That judgment was given in circumstances where an overall analysis had demonstrated, first, that the specific nature of the action programmes concerned lay in the fact that they embodied a comprehensive and coherent approach, providing practical and coordinated arrangements. Second, as regards the content of the action programmes, it is apparent from Article 5 of the Nitrates Directive, amongst other provisions, that those programmes contained specific, mandatory measures (see, to that effect, judgment of 17 June 2010, Terre wallonne and Inter-Environnement Wallonie, C‑105/09 and C‑110/09, EU:C:2010:355, paragraphs 47 and 48).
71


In that regard, the Court has repeatedly held that the concept of ‘plans and programmes’ not only includes their preparation, but also their modification, this being intended to ensure that provisions which are likely to have significant environmental effects are subject to an environmental assessment (judgment of 8 May 2019, Verdi Ambiente e Società (VAS) — Aps Onlus and Others, C‑305/18, EU:C:2019:384, paragraph 52 and the case-law cited).
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At the same time, it is important to avoid the same plan being subject to several environmental assessments covering all the requirements of the SEA Directive (see, to that effect, judgment of 10 September 2015, Dimos Kropias Attikis, C‑473/14, EU:C:2015:582, paragraph 55).
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To that end, and provided that the assessment of their effects has already been carried out, a measure does not fall within the meaning of ‘plans and programmes’ if it is part of a hierarchy of measures which have themselves been the subject of an assessment of their environmental effects and it may reasonably be considered that the interests which the SEA Directive is designed to protect have been taken into account sufficiently within that framework (see, to that effect, judgment of 22 March 2012, Inter-Environnement Brussels and Others, C‑567/10, EU:C:2012:159, paragraph 42 and the case-law cited).