Transport
J&E has been interested in the legal aspects of transport infrastructure since its establishment. In 2007, we released a report “Realization of TEN-T and application of EU environmental law – Case of Austria, Czech Republic and Hungary”. TEN – T is the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network.
The objective of the report was to offer an evaluation of planning and implementation of the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) in the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary based on long term monitoring of governmental practices in these countries done by J&E members. This report also takes into account particular analyses and case-studies undertaken by J&E and also other NGOs. The analysis is largely focused on the road TEN-T network.
The TEN-T Decisions encourages the states to develop and carry out projects with immense environmental impact. The aim of this European activity is to strengthen and promote the functioning of the internal market, as it has been reasoned out that this goal cannot be achieved without paying notice to its “transport� dimension. The trans-European transport networks will become essential traffic arteries connecting the Europe to allow free movement of goods, services, capital and persons. This justifies the strong emphasis laid upon the successful development of TEN-T. On the other hand, the European commitments in environmental policy must not be cast aside. The general problems accompanying every transport construction, such as loss of green space, agricultural land, negative impact upon landscape, threat to protected areas and species, increase in water pollution and ambient noise levels, worsening of the soil and water conditions, increased vehicle use, etc., are are magnified with projects as large as TEN-Ts. Merely refusing to finance almost complete constructions is irrelevant after the damage is done. It is in the interest of the European Commission to ensure clear responsibility for monitoring TEN-T development. The J&E study reveals that these means are lacking, that this is the weakest link in the TEN-T development.
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Brno – Vienna Connection: No Transboundary Assessment
Press Release 2008 november 28.
Justice and Environment (J&E), a network of public interest environmental law organisations, has released a letter of information on the insufficient implementation of transboundary environmental assessment in the case of high capacity connection Brno – Vienna. This case is of crucial importance as it represents part of the TEN-T connection from the Baltic to the Adriatic Sea (Priority Project No. 25 Gdansk – Brno/Bratislava – Wien). The letter supports complaints[1] filed by the Czech and Austrian NGOs against the Czech Ministry of Environment (MoE) which breached the respective provisions of the SEA and EIA Directives on transboundary assessment.[2]
“The Austrian complaint reveals that despite the Austrian citizens expressed their wish to participate in the SEA proceedings regarding the adoption of the Breclavsko (CR) land use plan, which has important implications also for Austria, this never happened”, says Clemens Konrad from Ökobüro (AU). Daniela Konecna, Environmental Law Service (CR), comments: “The lacking transboundary assessment is just one of many breaches of EU environmental law in this case, which together means that this part of the TEN-T network has never been assessed in due SEA and EIA processes.” Despite all this, the project of Brno – Vienna connection shall be financed from the EU funds.
Justice and Environment, CEE Bankwatch[3] and other NGOs closely monitor this case as it represents one of the most controversial transport projects in the EU “27” nowadays. This case also clearly depicts the insufficient implementation of the duty to carry out transboundary assessment which is a general problem also in other new EU member states. “J&E EIA and TEN-T analyses in 2007 have proved that EU environmental law is largely ignored in transport infrastructure cases. Real alternatives are not assessed and the public has little or zero chance to participate. This ongoing ignorance of all respective EU environmental law and TEN-T provisions may lead to large misuse of the EU money and low quality of the TEN-T road connection. Despite of its European importance,” states Dr. Csaba Kiss, Justice and Environment.
[1] Complaint to the Commission Ref.No. 2008/4493, SG (2008), A/4295 (16 April 2008) and Ref.No. Ares (2008) A/28011 (8 September 2008).
[2] This letter was addressed to the European Commission (DG Regio, Tren and Envi), the Austrian Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Transport and Federal Chancellery Austria, and to other European NGOs.
[3] See http://www.bankwatch.org/project.shtml?apc=147584—–1&w=147584&s=1975039
Environmental assessment & transport
Transport is something we all need but at the same time, we have to make sure that people, the environment and nature do not suffer because of it. Working out the effect a project will have on the environment is a key factor in determining whether that project should go ahead.
J&E member organisations analysing national legislation and individual transport projects in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Estonia and Austria found numerous gaps in the countries’ transposition and implementation of the EU’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive.
“Many of these cases show that the competent authorities are unaware of, or are ignoring, the requirements of the directive and other relevant EC legislation,� J&E EIA case study coordinator Pavel Černý states in a position paper summarising the findings.
These failures raise the risk to the environment and to human health posed by new highways and other major transport projects through lost green space, threats to protected areas, increased air pollution and other consequences of construction and greater automobile use.
Given the importance and, often, political sensitivity of such projects, J&E has made the relationship between the EIA process and transport-related infrastructure a major focus of its work since 2006, supported by the European Commission’s Environment Directorate-General. J&E found that, in contravention to the intent of the directive, some or all of the investigated Member States:
1. provide little or no opportunity for the public and NGOs to challenge decisions on whether a project warrants an environmental-impact assessment.
2. neglect EIA Directive criteria for determining whether an assessment is needed.
3. take a “special approach� to transport projects that lends itself to less-rigorous environmental control.
4. fail to assess all potential environmental impacts of a project or consider alternative, less-damaging development options in granting project consent.
5. fail to guarantee timely and effective public participation in the decision-making process.
In 2008 J&E continues to monitor large transport infrastructure cases and their clashes with the EU environmental directives in J&E member states. There are also further transport topics of great concern to the environment – trans–European transport networks (TEN-Ts) development and the possibility for the new EU MSs to draw large amount of money from EU funds via Operational Programmes Transport (EU Regional Policy instrument).
Several controversial and environmentally harmful projects appeared on “the list” of potential beneficiaries. The deficiencies in the SEA, EIA and other environmental directives implementation highlighted by J&E so far become yet more consequential as they largely affect the development of the roads and motorways of European importance (TEN-T projects) and as the large amount of money supplied to the transport sector open the way to even faster and massive transport development (of both needed as well as very harmful projects).
For these hot transport issues, J&E consults with CEE Bankwatch and J&E members cooperate with CEE Bankwatch in the case of Brno – Vienna motorway, which represents one of the three worst transport projects in Central and Eastern Europe according to CEE Bankwatch and FoEE evaluation.
J&E offers several recommendations for closing these gaps and strengthening enforcement of the environmental directives, to better balance the need for an improved transport network with effective environmental protection and to ensure a proper public role in making these crucial and costly development decisions.
For full information download our materials:
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J&E EIT Case study overview 2006
The full paper is available here
For more information please write to secretariat@justiceandenvironment.org
Note: due to the large file size individual case studies are not combined with the overall case study overview; they will be emailed upon request.
See also CEE Bankwatch Networks’ Transport page: http://www.bankwatch.org/project.shtml?w=147584 and the Cohesion or Collision? map on http://www.bankwatch.org/billions/
