Case C‑645/15

Bund Naturschutz in Bayern eV
and
Harald Wilde

v

Freistaat Bayern

(Request for a preliminary ruling
from the Bayerischer Verwaltungsgerichtshof)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling — Environment — Assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment — Directive 2011/92/EU — Project subject to assessment — Annex I, point 7 — European Agreement on Main International Traffic Arteries (AGR) — Widening of a road with four lanes over a length of less than 10 km)

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber), 24 November 2016

1. Environment—Assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment—Directive 2011/92—Projects listed in Annex I subject to an assessment—Road construction projects—Obligation to subject projects having a length of less than 10 km to an assessment—No such obligation

   (European Parliament and Council Directive 2011/92, Annex I, point 7(c))

2. Environment—Assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment—Directive 2011/92—Projects listed in Annex I subject to an assessment—Road construction projects—Construction of motorways and express roads—Meaning of express roads

   (European Parliament and Council Directive 2011/92, Annex I, point 7(b))

3. Environment—Assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment—Directive 2011/92—Projects listed in Annex I subject to an assessment—Road construction projects—Construction of motorways and express roads—Meaning of construction

   (European Parliament and Council Directive 2011/92, Annex I, point 7(a), (b) and (c))

1.  Point 7(c) of Annex I to Directive 2011/92 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment cannot be interpreted to the effect that it covers a road development project which, whilst it concerns a stretch of road that is under 10 km in length, consists in the widening or development of an existing road with four or more lanes.

   It is clear from point 7(c) of Directive 2011/92 that the EU legislature intended to restrict the Member States’ obligation to make certain road development projects subject to a systematic environmental impact assessment solely to those projects which concern road sections of a significant length, in the event a length of at least 10 km. In that regard, although the scope of Directive 2011/92 is wide and its purpose very broad, a purposive interpretation of that directive nevertheless cannot disregard the clearly expressed intention of the EU legislature.

   (see paras 22, 23, 26, operative part 1)

2.  Point 7(b) of Annex I to Directive 2011/92 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment must be interpreted as meaning that ‘express roads’ for the purposes of that provision are roads whose technical characteristics are those set out in the definition in point II.3 of Annex II to the European Agreement on Main International Traffic Arteries (AGR), even if those roads do not form part of the network of main international traffic arteries or are located in urban areas.

   (see para. 35, operative part 2)

3.  The concept of ‘construction’ for the purposes of point 7(b) of Annex I to Directive 2011/92 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment must be interpreted as referring to the carrying-out of works not previously existing or to the physical alteration of existing installations. In order to determine whether such an alteration may be regarded as equivalent, because of its scale and the manner in which it is carried out, to such construction, the national court must take account of all the characteristics of the work concerned and not only of its length or of the fact that its initial route is retained.

   Indeed, unlike point 7(a) and (c) of Annex I to Directive 2011/92, point 7(b) does not prescribe a minimum length for the roads that it covers. Moreover, it is possible that a road development, even one of limited length, may, by its very nature, be so extensive as to have significant effects on the environment. Accordingly, the concept of ‘construction’ within the meaning of point 7(b) of Annex I to Directive 2011/92 does not presuppose that the section of road concerned be of a particular length.

   (see paras 41-43, operative part 3)