Directive 2001/42/EC
European Union directive
Directive 2001/42/EC is a European Union Directive in the field of environmental protection, evaluating all those plans and programmes which can produce environmental effects. The environmental assessment procedure will be finalised to indicate, to describe and to evaluate all those effects which can happen on the environment when plans and programmes are implemented and as a consequence all the alternative solutions which can be realised on the basis of objectives and the environmental plans and programmes areas.
According to the European Directive, the assessment can be applied to all those plans and programmes edited in the areas of "agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy, industry, transport, waste management, water management, telecommunications, tourism, town and country planning or land use" and which define the referee scene/panel for authorising the projects listed in the directive 85/337/EC enclosure I and II or for which, considering their effects, it is necessary an evaluation made according to the articles 6 and 7 of Directive 92/43/EEC (Article 3 of Directive 2001/42/EC). Besides, the Directive establishes that it will be necessary an environmental report at the end of the evaluation phases.
The European SEA Directive will be generally integrate by the EU member States procedures or it will be merged in specific and established procedures. Each State has to consider that all the evaluations will be done at a different hierarchical level so that it will be possible to avoid doubles.
Objectives
The Directive wants "to provide for a high level of protection of the environment" and, at the same time, it wants to integrate environmental observations with the elaboration and adoption of plans and programmes in order to promote a sustainable development. In this way it shall be possible to evaluate, according to the Directive, plans and programmes with significant effects on the environment.
Definitions
The Directive provides the definitions of some terms:
plans and programmes refers to plans and programmes (even those one co-financed by the European Commission) made, modified, elaborated and/or adopted by national, regional or local council. It generally refers even to plans and programmes done by an authority in order to be approved "through a legislative procedure by Parliament or Government and which are required by legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions";
environmental assessment refers to the environmental report editing, to the consultations development, to the environmental report evaluation and to the results consultation assessment according to the decision-making process and "the provision of information on the decision in accordance with Articles 4 to 9";
environmental report refers to all the plans and programmes documents which contain all the Article 5 and Annex I information;
the public refers to one or more "natural or legal persons", according to the national set of rules and "their associations, organizations or groups".
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