The process of an EIA
The EIA Directive defines environmental impact assessment as a process, involving several stages, related documents and consultations.
Point (g) of Article 1(2) of the EIA Directive:
(g) ‘environmental impact assessment’ means a process consisting of:
(g) ‘environmental impact assessment’ means a process consisting of:
- (i) the preparation of an environmental impact assessment report by the developer, as referred to in Article 5(1) and (2);
- (ii) the carrying out of consultations as referred to in Article 6 and, where relevant, Article 7;
- (iii) the examination by the competent authority of the information presented in the environmental impact assessment report and any supplementary information provided, where necessary, by the developer in accordance with Article 5(3), and any relevant information received through the consultations under Articles 6 and 7;
- (iv) the reasoned conclusion by the competent authority on the significant effects of the project on the environment, taking into account the results of the examination referred to in point (iii) and, where appropriate, its own supplementary examination; and
- (v) the integration of the competent authority's reasoned conclusion into any of the decisions referred to in Article 8a.
It is worth noting that the definition of ‘environmental impact assessment’ was added by the amendments Directive 2014/52/EU, thereby making the formerly debatable situation of what precisely an EIA shall consist of clear. This amendment has also addressed the findings of the European Court of Justice on the nature and content of an EIA, when interpreting Article 3 of the former EIA Directive. 