6 July 2010: The European Commission has launched a public consultation in relation to the review of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive. The consultation covers, among other things, the development of synergies with other EU policies, such as climate change and biodiversity.

The findings of the consultation will feed into a review in 2011 that is expected to lead to a new EIA directive encompassing new policy developments, particularly in the sectors of climate change, energy and biodiversity, and taking into account implementation experiences. All interested parties – citizens, stakeholders and organizations involved in environmental assessments – are invited to respond to the public consultation by 24 September 2010, based on a questionnaire available in 22 EU languages.

The review is to focus on the screening of projects for EIA, the quality of the EIA process, the harmonization of assessment requirements among member States, cross-border difficulties when projects affect more than one member State, the role of environmental authorities, and the development of synergies between the EIA directive and other EU environmental legislation and policies, such as climate change, resource efficiency and biodiversity, which, according to the Commission, are not sufficiently covered by the Directive in its current form. [EU Press Release] [Consultation Website]