The process of a SEA
Plans and programmes under the SEA Directive - The definition of plan and programme
The SEA Directive entered into force on 21 July 2001 and during its 17 years of existence, it has never been amended, which makes it a unique piece of EU environmental legislation.
The objective of the SEA Directive is to provide for a high level of protection of the environment and contribute to the integration of environmental considerations into the preparation, adoption and implementation of plans and programmes, with the aim of promoting sustainable development throughout planning processes. This objective should be achieved by ensuring that an environmental assessment is carried out for those plans and programmes which are identified as likely to have significant effects on the environment.
The definition of plan and programme
‘plans and programmes’ shall mean plans and programmes, including those co-financed by the European Community, as well as any modifications to them:
- which are subject to preparation and/or adoption by an authority at national, regional or local level or which are prepared by an authority for adoption, through a legislative procedure by Parliament or Government, and
- which are required by legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions;
The SEA Directive applies to public plans and programmes, i.e. the ones which are subject to preparation and/or adoption by an authority and which are required by national legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions.
When assessing nitrate protection action programmes adopted pursuant to another piece of EU law,
the ECJ has come to the conclusion that it is in principle a plan or programme covered by obligations of the SEA Directive since it constitutes a ‘plan’ or ‘programme’ within the meaning of Article 2(a) and contains measures compliant with what is a requirement for issue of the consent that may be granted for carrying out projects listed in Annexes I and II to the EIA Directive.
In one of its recent judgments related to the SEA Directive, the ECJ came to the conclusion that given the objective of the directive, which is to provide for a high level of protection of the environment, the provisions which delimit the directive’s scope, in particular those setting out the definitions of the measures envisaged by the directive, must be interpreted broadly.
Furthermore, the ECJ has also noted for the term ‘plans and programmes’ that whilst it is true that it must cover a specific area, it is not apparent from the wording of either Article 2(a) or Article 3(2)(a) that those plans or programmes must concern planning for a given area. It follows from the wording of those provisions that they cover, in the wider sense, regional and district planning in general. Finally, in the same case, the ECJ has also ruled that the notion of ‘plans and programmes’ can cover normative acts adopted by law or regulation.