Bonn revives talks on wider vetting of building projects

Date: 28/01/1999

By Chris Johnstone

Germany is set to revive talks on dormant European Commission proposals for broader vetting of infrastructure projects which affect the landscape.

Bonn has told the Commission and green groups that it wants to hold fresh discussions on a controversial 1996 proposal for EU legislation which would require national authorities to carry out 'strategic environmental assessments' on major construction projects.

"They have told us they want to re-start discussions," said a Commission official. "They have been careful in not promising any ministerial agreements, but this at least could get the ball rolling."

The Commission's proposal would, if agreed, dramatically boost the scope of EU legislation to force governments and private firms to justify their building plans.

The new studies would have a much broader focus than the existing environment impact assessments required under EU law for specific projects such as individual stretches of motorway or a single power stations. Under the proposed new law, governments would be forced to argue their case for entire road networks.

The Commission's proposals have been shunned by EU governments ever since they were first mooted at the beginning of the decade.

Officials attempted to give the plan fresh impetus at the end of 1996 by producing a watered-down version which specifically excluded any overall vetting of broad government policy from the proposal.

But even this major concession failed to encourage successive EU presidencies to make the proposed directive a priority. "Governments were concerned that the Commission plans would be too prescriptive and would tie up their decision-making powers," said Paul Hamblin of the London-based Council for the Protection of Rural England.

Green campaigners say past attempts to make progress on the proposals were blocked by a powerful trio of opponents: Germany, France and the UK. "They were worried that it would change their existing administrative practice. A kind of administrative conservatism worked against it," said Christian Hey, of the Brussels-based European Environmental Bureau.

Bonn's decision to revive talks on the plan follows last autumn's election in Germany which brought a red-green coalition into power.

Some diplomats believe that the proposal stands a better chance of being adopted this time around. One Danish environmental official said the "mood music" had changed since the Commission tabled its revised proposal three years ago. "This idea fits into the overall strategy of introducing environmental considerations into all areas of policy," she said. "I am optimistic this proposal could get further this time, but there are no firm grounds for that feeling."