Brussels, 05/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - With the adoption on Thursday last in Brussels of a report by Swedish Green member Inger Schörling, the European Parliament approved, at third reading, the common project resulting from conciliation (in October 2000) concerning assessment of the impact that certain plans and programmes would have on the environment. The aim of the draft directive consists in assuring that environment impact assessment is carried out and that the results of the assessment are taken into account when preparing plans and programmes for land use.
The main points of the agreement concluded in conciliation procedure may be summarised as follows: - control of environmental impact: the Member States will be forced to control the environmental impact of plans and programmes, in a way that allows them to take appropriate, correcting measures; - the scope: the proposal will cover structural funds from 2008, the temporary derogation granted to Member States expiring at the end of the current programming period (2000-2007). The Parliament also managed to have the plans and programmes co-funded by the European Union covered by the directive; - cross-border consultation with third countries: the Member States are invited to inform third countries of the plans and programmes that have an impact on their environment; - public consultation: when preparing plans and programmes, the Member States must keep the public informed (including NGOs) and give the public the possibility of putting their ideas and suggestions forward.