Whereas the disparities between the laws in force in the various Member States with regard to the assessment of the environmental effects of public and private projects may create unfavourable competitive conditions and thereby directly affect the functioning of the common market;

Bodies of water forming these areas shall be included within the operational monitoring programme referred to above where, on the basis of the impact assessment and the surveillance monitoring, they are identified as being at risk of failing to meet their environmental objectives under Article 4.

CONSCIOUS of the role played in this respect by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and recalling, inter alia, the ECE Code of Conduct on Accidental Pollution of Transboundary Inland Waters and the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context,

The environmental impact assessment may be integrated into the existing procedures for consent to projects in the Member States, or, failing this, into other procedures or into procedures to be established to comply with the aims of this Directive.

In order to make this appraisal as effective as possible, Member States shall also provide the results of the environmental impact assessment in conformity with the Community legislation, and their consistency with a general environmental or transport strategy at administrative unit or sector level, and, where appropriate:

at the second meeting of the Parties to the Convention in Sofia on 26 and 27 February 2001, it was decided to prepare a legally binding protocol on strategic environmental assessment which would supplement the existing provisions on environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context, with a view to its possible adoption on the occasion of the 5th Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe" at an extraordinary meeting of the Parties to the Convention, scheduled for May 2003 in Kiev, Ukraine.

Whereas Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (5) aims at providing the competent authorities with relevant information to enable them to take a decision on a specific project in full knowledge of the project's likely significant impact on the environment;

In the case of construction of combustion plants which are likely to have significant effects on the environment in another Member State, the Member States shall ensure that all appropriate information and consultation takes place, in accordance with Article 7 of Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment(14).

the Commission should then submit to the Council a proposal for a Regulation ensuring that the procedures for such environmental risk assessment and other relevant elements, including the authorisation procedure, are equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 90/220/EEC of 23 April 1990 on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms(8);

In the case of projects which, pursuant to Article 4, must be subjected to an environmental impact assessment in accordance with Articles 5 to 10, Member States shall adopt the necessary measures to ensure that the developer supplies in an appropriate form the information specified in Annex IV inasmuch as:

Whenever an environmental impact assessment of a proposed activity that is likely to cause a significant adverse impact on the marine environment of the Baltic Sea area is required by international law or supra-national regulations applicable to the Contracting Party of origin, that Contracting Party shall notify the Commission and any Contracting Party which may be affected by a transboundary impact on the Baltic Sea area.

Member States shall adopt all measures necessary to ensure that, before consent is given, projects likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue, inter alia, of their nature, size or location are made subject to a requirement for development consent and an assessment with regard to their effects.

Towards sustainability - A European Community programme of policy and action in relation to the environment and sustainable development(5), supplemented by Council Decision No 2179/98/EC(6) on its review, affirms the importance of assessing the likely environmental effects of plans and programmes.

Provision should be made for the possibility of adapting rapidly the list of biofuels, the percentage of renewable contents, and the schedule for introducing biofuels in the transport fuel market, to technical progress and to the results of an environmental impact assessment of the first phase of introduction.

The United Nations/Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context of 25 February 1991, which applies to both Member States and other States, encourages the parties to the Convention to apply its principles to plans and programmes as well;

adopt the legal, administrative and budgetary framework (audit manual and audit trail) to programme and manage ISPA and Sapard, including the introduction of environmental impact assessments and European Union compatible public procurement rules for projects co-financed by Community Funds;

adopt the legal, administrative and budgetary framework (audit manual and audit trail) to programme and manage ISPA and Sapard, including a mechanism for systematic environmental impact assessment and European Union-compatible public procurement rules for projects co-financed by Community Funds;

up to 100 % of the costs of the introduction of quality assurance schemes such as ISO 9000 or 14000 series, systems based on hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP), traceability systems, systems to assure respect of authenticity and marketing norms or environmental audit systems;

For plans and programmes for which the obligation to carry out assessments of the effects on the environment arises simultaneously from this Directive and other Community legislation, Member States may provide for coordinated or joint procedures fulfilling the requirements of the relevant Community legislation in order, inter alia, to avoid duplication of assessment.

Operational monitoring shall be carried out for all those bodies of water which on the basis of either the impact assessment carried out in accordance with Annex II or surveillance monitoring are identified as being at risk of failing to meet their environmental objectives under Article 4 and for those bodies of water into which priority list substances are discharged.

Whereas experience acquired in environmental impact assessment, as recorded in the report on the implementation of Directive 85/337/EEC, adopted by the Commission on 2 April 1993, shows that it is necessary to introduce provisions designed to clarify, supplement and improve the rules on the assessment procedure, in order to ensure that the Directive is applied in an increasingly harmonized and efficient manner;

All plans and programmes which are prepared for a number of sectors and which set a framework for future development consent of projects listed in Annexes I and II to Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment(7), and all plans and programmes which have been determined to require assessment pursuant to Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild flora and fauna(8), are likely to have significant effects on the environment, and should as a rule be made subject to systematic environmental assessment.

Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment(5), and Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996 concerning integrated pollution prevention and control(6) should be amended to ensure that they are fully compatible with the provisions of the Arhus Convention, in particular Article 6 and Article 9(2) and (4) thereof.

The Committee concludes that, since the product is intended for use in a minor species (horses) that is reared and treated similarly to a major species, the conclusions on the Environmental Risk Assessment of the major species apply, the product should be exempt from providing a Phase II assessment and that no risk mitigation measures should be included in the SPC of the product.

Where the obligation to carry out assessments of the effects on the environment arises simultaneously from this Directive and other Community legislation, such as Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds(9), Directive 92/43/EEC, or Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy(10), in order to avoid duplication of the assessment, Member States may provide for coordinated or joint procedures fulfilling the requirements of the relevant Community legislation.

If a Member State which receives information pursuant to paragraph 1 indicates that it intends to participate in the Environmental Impact Assessment procedure, the Member State in whose territory the project is intended to be carried out shall, if it has not already done so, send to the affected Member State the information gathered pursuant to Article 5 and relevant information regarding the said procedure, including the request for development consent.

Whereas, at Community level, further elements should be added to the information made available to the public over and above the areas already covered by Article 6 (2) of Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (1) and by Article 8 (1) of Council Directive 82/501/EEC of 24 June 1982 on the major accident hazards of certain industrial activities (2), as amended by Directive 88/610/EEC (3);

During its 6-8 November 2007 meeting, the CVMP, in light of the overall data submitted and the scientific discussion within the Committee, adopted by consensus an opinion that since the product is intended for use in a minor species (horses) that is reared and treated similarly to a major species, the conclusions on the Environmental Risk Assessment of the major species apply, and therefore the product should be exempt from providing a Phase II assessment and no risk mitigation measures should be included in the SPC of the product.

the body responsible for implementation, the nature of the investment and a description thereof, its costs and location, including, where applicable, an indication of projects of common interest situated on the same transport axis, the timetable for implementation of the work, a cost-benefit analysis, including the direct and indirect effects on employment, information enabling possible impact on the environment to be assessed, information on public contracts, the financing plan including, where possible, information on the economic viability of the project, and the total financing the Member State is seeking from the Fund and any other Community source.

the Convention on environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context,

undertake environmental impact assessment for proposed activities that are likely to cause a significant adverse impact on the marine environment and are subject to an authorisation by competent national authorities;

promote cooperation between and among States in environmental impact assessment procedures related to activities under their jurisdiction or control which are likely to have a significant adverse effect on the marine environment of other States or areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, on the basis of notification, exchange of information and consultation;