Governance & Policy
EU Environmental Impact Assessment Directive
Definition
The EIA Directive, originally adopted in 1985 and codified as Directive 2011/92/EU with later amendments, requires member states to ensure that projects likely to have significant environmental effects — from motorways to intensive farms — are assessed before consent. The assessment must cover direct and indirect effects on population, health, biodiversity, land, water, air and climate, with public participation.
References
Overview
What it means
No major project in the EU proceeds without a documented, consultable analysis of its environmental consequences.
How it is used
Developers commission EIA reports; authorities screen and scope projects; NGOs challenge consents on EIA adequacy; courts enforce procedural rights.
Why it matters
It is the EU workhorse of preventive environmental law and the regional anchor of the global EIA discipline NEPA began.