Commission proposes improved environmental assessment system
On a proposal from Mrs. Ritt Bjerregaard, Commissioner responsible for the environment, the European Commission has adopted a proposal for a draft Directive on the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of plans and programmes. Under current EU law, environmental assessment is only required for specific projects in specific locations. The proposed Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive put forward by the Commission is aimed at strengthening the existing environmental assessment system for projects (Council Directive 85/337/EEC) by extending it to the land-use planning system in areas such as energy, waste, mineral extraction and transport. By taking environmental consequences into account at an earlier stage of the planning process, the Commission's new draft Directive will increase environmental protection and reduce economic impact for operators. Several SEA type initiatives have already been taken at national level. The large majority of Member States, however, do not have legislation on SEA and none of the existing land-use planning systems adequately cover the minimum requirements of a SEA assessment. The Directive will ensure that minimum requirements are met in all countries. Commenting on the draft Directive, Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard stressed that "The proposal for a Directive on Strategic Environmental Assessment of plans and programmes is of key importance to EU Environmental Policy. The SEA completes our Environmental Impact Assessment Directive. We have now had ten years of experience with this Directive. An overriding problem with the EIA has been that the environmental assessment takes place too late in planning the process, often only when the project is about to be implemented. This is costly both in economic and environmental terms. The SEA seeks to rectify this deficiency by introducing environmental considerations earlier in the planning process and this objective can only be reached with a legally binding Directive."