Brussels sues Portugal for non-compliance with environmental impact directive

This Thursday, the European Commission filed a lawsuit against Portugal in the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to transpose a directive on environmental impact assessment of public and private projects.

According to information provided by the Commission, Brussels filed a lawsuit because Portugal did not transpose a European directive from April 2014, which “reduces the administrative burden and increases the level of environmental protection, making company decisions firmer, predictable and sustainable public and private investments.”

The country “incorrectly reflected some of the provisions of the amended directive in national law,” claims the European Commission, which in October 2019 notified the Portuguese state of compliance with the directive. Two years later, Brussels again sent an opinion warning Portugal of non-compliance with the directive.

“The Commission considers that the efforts of the Portuguese authorities so far have been unsatisfactory and insufficient and has decided to bring a case against Portugal to the Court of Justice of the European Union,” the statement said.

In addition, Portugal “does not fully take into account the established criteria” in determining the viability of several projects.

The directive states that “major construction and development projects” in the European Union must be assessed “in terms of their impact on the environment”. Evaluation is required “before the start of the project”.

Thus, the environmental impact assessment procedure “ensures environmental protection and transparency in the decision-making process of various types of public and private projects” and also ensures “active public participation”.

Member States had three years to translate this directive into national law, and Portugal did not.