Environment : effects of public and private projects (amend. Directive 85/337/EEC)

Adopting the report by Mr Paul LANNOYE (V, B), the European Parliament considered that the Commission's proposed amendments did not completely fill the gaps which had come to light during the six years in which the directive being revised had been applied and the report therefore proposed a series of amendments seeking mainly to: - ensure that Community environmental policy aims at a high level of protection (rather than the adequate level proposed by the Commission); - delete the reference to the principle of subsidiarity; - subject not only public and private projects but also Community or national programmes to an environmental impact assessment, by limiting possible derogations to exceptional cases and offering the public affected by projects the opportunity to object to a derogation; - improve information for and consultation with the public affected; - involve the European Environment Agency when setting the criteria for environmental impact assessments and grant it consultative and mediator status in line with its institutional objectives; - propose a longer list of activities and projects which are subject to control. The European Parliament has mainly added major electricity distribution networks, nuclear fuel production projects and all projects financed under Community programmes (especially the Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund) to the current list; - require third countries granted subsidies by the European Union to implement public works which might have an environmental impact on a Member State to comply with the provisions of the directive.�