As part of the monthly package of infringement proceedings against Member States for incorrect transposition of directives (EU laws), the EU announced it was sending “letters of formal notice” - the first step in a procedure - to nine Member States, including Portugal, whose national laws do not yet comply with the “Environmental Impact Assessment Directive”.


In the case of Portugal, “several shortcomings have been identified in the legislation adopted to transpose the amended EIA Directive”, with the European Commission specifying that “the key problems relate to the scope of the Directive, the rules for public consultation, the rules on cross-border environmental impact assessment procedures and the definition of some of the projects listed in the annexes”.


In addition to Portugal, notifications were sent to Denmark, Sweden, Greece, Austria, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Slovakia and Croatia.


Brussels said that the Directive ensures that the environmental impact of public and private projects is assessed before they are authorised, and the new legislation was adopted in 2014 “in order to reduce the administrative burden and improve the level of environmental protection while at the same time making business decisions on public and private investments more robust, predictable and sustainable”.


Brussels has given Member States two months to respond to the letters, warning that failing to do so may result in “reasoned opinions”, the second and final step in infringement proceedings, before the Commission refers them to the Court of Justice of the EU.