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Document 32014L0052
Assessment of the effects of projects on the environment (EIA)
Known as the EIA Directive, the directive aims to ensure:
This objective is achieved by ensuring that environmental assessment of certain public and private projects listed in the directive’s Annexes I and II (airports, nuclear installations, railways, roads, waste disposal installations, waste water treatment plants, etc.) is carried out.
The EIA Directive applies to a wide range of public and private projects.
Directive 2011/92/EU defines the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process which ensures that projects likely to have significant effects on the environment are made subject to an assessment, prior to their authorisation.
Amending legislation (Directive 2014/52/EU) was adopted in 2014. In line with the drive for smarter regulation, it:
The main amendments are:
The EIA process
The EIA process operates as follows:
Public consultations
Consultation with the public is a key feature of EIA process. To ensure effective public participation, the EIA report and other information must be provided as early as possible. This can be done electronically, by public notices or bill posting, or via local newspapers.
Responsibility of national authorities
Authorities have to decide within a reasonable time whether to approve the project or not. They must make available to the public, as well as to environmental, local and regional bodies, the content of a positive decision, including the main reasons for their approval and any environmental or other conditions they attach. If they refuse development consent, they should explain why.
EU countries may lay down more stringent conditions and fix penalties for any infringements.
Directive 2011/92/EU has applied since 17 February 2012. It codifies 4 earlier directives (85/337/EEC, 97/11/EC, 2003/35/EC and 2009/31/EC) the first of which became law in the EU countries on 3 July 1988.
Amending Directive 2014/52/EU has applied since 25 April 2014 and had to become law in the EU countries by 16 May 2017.
For more information, see:
Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (codification) (OJ L 26, 28.1.2012, pp. 1-21)
Successive amendments to Directive 2011/92/EU have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.
last update 23.07.2018