The SEA REFIT
The REFIT Fitness Check
(in the framework of the Commission’s Regulatory Fitness and Performance programme) provides a comprehensive policy evaluation of the SEA Directive. This evaluation assesses if the Directives are fit for purpose by examining their performance against five criteria: effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value. This includes examining implementation and integration successes and problems, the costs of implementation and non-implementation of the legislation, the administrative burden of implementation, and the opportunities to reduce it without compromising the integrity of the purpose of the Directives.
On 23 April 2018, the European Commission launched a public consultation in the framework of the ongoing REFIT evaluation of the SEA Directive. The consultation will be open for three months, i.e. until 23 July 2018. In the framework of this public consultation, the Commission gathers information and stakeholder views as well as public opinion via a questionnaire on how the SEA Directive has perceived and performed in the past 14 years following its entry into force.
The evaluation aims to consider all relevant aspects, i.e. legal (legal basis, internal coherence and consistency with other legislation, terminology and definitions, etc.), environmental, economic and social. The evaluation will examine what has worked well but also intends to shed light on what has not done so and what the reasons for that are.
The public consultation is part of a broader effort, as the ongoing REFIT evaluation relies on relevant literature, review of reports and consultation with relevant stakeholders, including national, local and regional authorities, institutions, NGOs and organizations, ensuring adequate and wide geographical representation within the EU. The evaluation aims to identify any shortcomings related to the implementation and enforcement of the SEA Directive, and point out the causes of such shortcomings, including gaps in the existing legislation.