Greece is being challenged before the Court of Justice of the EU for failure to fully transpose the directive on the environmental impact assessment of certain projects prior to their authorisation (Directive 2011/92/EU as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU, the so-called ‘EIA’ Directive). This action was announced by the European Commission on Friday 15 July.
Despite several reminders, the Commission notes in particular that the Greek legislation transposing the EIA Directive still does not apply to all national defence projects, even though exclusion is only possible on a case-by-case basis.
The Commission also criticises the Greek legislation for not containing provisions obliging the Greek authorities to inform the public of any decision taken by another Member State concerning projects with cross-border effects on Greek territory.
In addition, the Greek legislation does not require an environmental impact assessment for certain projects, such as facilities for the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel or for the final storage of radioactive waste, or waterways and ports allowing the passage of ships of more than 1,350 tonnes. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)