Brussels, 12/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - A European Commission proposal, which is still in the pipeline, is required before shale gas can be submitted for its mandatory environmental impact assessment. The European Parliament was given the opportunity of including a shale gas fracking environmental impact assessment in an update of existing legislation but this opportunity was missed, on Wednesday 11 September, when the vote was postponed for review of the directive on the impact that certain public and private projects have on the environment (Directive 85/337/EEC, or the so-called EIA directive).
The report by Andrea Zanoni (ALDE, Italy) proposing an update of an existing directive that dates back 25 years recommends that exploration and extraction projects of non-conventional hydrocarbons, such as shale gas, should be subject to a compulsory environmental impact assessment. Zanoni also calls for measures to prevent conflict of interest, and advocates that the public be informed and consulted on project implementation. Parliament, however, has decided to postpone its vote until the plenary session in October, as MEPs hoped a debate would be held in plenary session, in the presence of the Commission and the EU Council Presidency, before a stance is taken. Review of the EIA directive, presented on 26 October 2012 for improving procedures and increasing efficiency, is one of the directives applicable to the exploration and extraction of non-conventional fossil fuels, but the provisions of that directive do not cover all risks, mainly chemical risks, linked to hydraulic fracking (see EUROPE 10720). During the informal meeting of environment ministers in July this year, Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik had underlined this, saying that, in order to make up for this legal shortcoming, all options (review of existing legislation, code of conduct or new legislation) were currently being examined by the Commission (see EUROPE 10889). (AN/transl.jl)