Brussels, 28/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - Poland will be brought before the Court of Justice over its persistent infringement of EU legislation on the assessment of the environmental impact of projects (Directive 2011/92/EC, known as the EIA Directive), the European Commission announced on Thursday 28 April.
The Commission argues that Poland did not properly assess the environmental impact of exploratory mining drillings before these were approved - a failure that the Polish authorities have not remedied, despite a reasoned opinion sent to them in February 2015. Under Polish law, it is possible to drill to a depth of up to 5000 meters without first carrying out an assessment of the potential impact on the environment. The high threshold laid down by this national legislation fails to take account of the raft of relevant standards and criteria laid down by the EIA Directive to determine whether certain categories of projects require an assessment.
Under EU law, deep drilling must be the subject of an assessment, for instance of the waste it will produce, its impact on water and soil, use of natural resources, risk of accidents and all cumulative effects it may have when combined with other projects or similar activities. The Court of Justice of the EU recently upheld this (case C-531/13).
Under the EIA Directive, any environmental effects of a project must be listed and assessed before any decision is made regarding its implementation, which allows those responsible for the project to adapt it to reduce the negative impacts to a minimum, or the competent authorities to include risk-attenuation measures when the project is approved. The Directive ensures public participation in the decision-making process. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)