Environmental assessment of the EU Structural Funds: the German Objective 1 regional development plan and Berlin operational programme

Article abstract:

Whilst the assessment of environmental impacts should form an integral part of EU Structural Fund documentation, to date the extent to which this has happened has largely remained unclear. Addressing this shortcoming, the paper looks at recent practice in the German Objective 1 areas. In this context, the regional development plan of the new German Länder and the operational programme for the Eastern part of Berlin are analysed, using the EU Structural Fund SEA (strategic environmental assessment) Handbook, the SEA Directive (2001/42/EC) and SEA good practice criteria, as proposed in the professional literature. It is found that whilst some SEA aspects are considered in current practice, there is scope for improvement, particularly in terms of an early integration of the assessment in the plan making process, a better consideration of alternatives, a wider consultation process, the preparation of a separate EA report and more transparent plan approval.