Talk:Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

Review by Job Dronkers (January 2013)

The European Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) commits member states to carry out an environmental assessment of the potential impacts of public or private infrastructural projects before a decision is taken. The directive lists all types of projects for which an EIA is compulsory. Consultation with the public is a key feature of the EIA.

The EIA procedure can be summarized as follows: the developer may request the competent authority to say what should be covered by the EIA information to be provided by the developer (scoping stage); the developer must provide information on the environmental impact; the environmental authorities and the public (and affected Member States) must be informed and consulted; the competent authority decides, taken into consideration the results of consultations. The public is informed of the decision afterwards and can challenge the decision before the courts.

For public policies, plans and programmes with a potential impact on the environment, EU member states are committed to carry out a Strategic Environmental Assessment.