14. 3. 97 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 73/5 COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 amending Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 130s (1) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (3), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189c of the Treaty (), (1) Whereas Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (%) aims at providing the competent authorities with relevant information to enable them to take a de- cision on a specific project in full knowledge of the project’s likely significant impact on the environ- ment; whereas the assessment procedure is a funda- mental instrument of environmental policy as defined in Article 130r of the Treaty and of the Fifth Community Programme of policy and action in rela- tion to the environment and sustainable develop- ment; (2) Whereas, pursuant to Article 130r (2) of the Treaty, Community policy on the environment is based on the precautionary principle and on the principle that preventive action should be taken, that environ- mental damage should as a priority be rectified at source and that the polluter should pay; (3) Whereas the main principles of the assessment of environmental effects should be harmonized and whereas the Member States may lay down stricter rules to protect the environment; (4) Whereas experience acquired in environmental impact assessment, as recorded in the report on the implementation of Directive 85/337/EEC, adopted () OJ No C 130, 12. 5. 1994, p. 8 and OJ No C 81, 19. 3. 1996, p. 14. () O] No C 393, 31. 12. 1994, p. 1. () Of No C 210, 14. 8. 1995, p. 78. (*) Buropean Parliament Opinion of 11 October 1995 (O] No C 287, 30. 10. 1995, p. 101), Council common position of 25 June 1996 (O] No C 248, 26. 8. 1996, p. 75) and European Parliament Decision of 13 November 1996 (O] No C 362, 2. 12. 1996, p. 103). (°) OJ No L 175, 5. 7. 1985, p. 40. Directive as last amended by the 1994 Act of Accession. by the Commission on 2 April 1993, shows that it is necessary to introduce provisions designed to clarify, supplement and improve the rules on the assessment procedure, in order to ensure that the Directive is applied in an increasingly harmonized and efficient manner; (5) Whereas projects for which an assessment is required should be subject to a requirement for development consent; whereas the assessment should be carried out before such consent is granted; (6) Whereas it is appropriate to make additions to the list of projects which have significant effects on the environment and which must on that account as a rule be made subject to systematic assessment; (7) Whereas projects of other types may not have signifi- cant effects on the environment in every case; whereas these projects should be assessed where Member States consider they are likely to have sig- nificant effects on the environment; (8) Whereas Member States may set thresholds or criteria for the purpose of determining which such projects should be subject to assessment on the basis of the significance of their environmental effects; whereas Member States should not be required to examine projects below those thresholds or outside those criteria on a case-by-case basis; (9) Whereas when setting such thresholds or criteria or examining projects on a case-by-case basis for the purpose of determining which projects should be subject to assessment on the basis of their significant environmental effects, Member States should take account of the relevant selection criteria set out in this Directive; whereas, in accordance with the subsi- diarity principle, the Member States are in the best position to apply these criteria in specific instances; (10) Whereas the existence of a location criterion refer- ring to special protection areas designated by Member States pursuant to Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds (¥) and 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora () does not imply necessarily that projects in those areas are to be automatically subject to an assessment under this Directive; () OJ No L 103, 25. 4. 1979, p. 1. Directive as last amended by the 1994 Act of Accession. () OJ No L 206, 22. 7. 1992, p. 7.