Source: European Parliament
The Seveso III Directive[1] is relevant to the case at hand. Articles 14, 15, and 23 of this directive implement, within its scope, the obligations set out under the Aarhus Convention into the EU legal order.
Based on the information received so far, the Commission has not identified any breach of the Seveso III Directive. In particular, the absence of a safety report and of external and internal emergency plans does not constitute a violation of Articles 10 and 12 of the Seveso III Directive respectively, as the construction of the plant has not started yet and no hazardous substances are likely to be present for the time being.
In any case, without prejudice to the Commission’s role as guardian of the Treaties, the national administrative and/or judicial bodies are primarily responsible to ensure compliance with EU law and address individual cases of potential breach in the relevant authorisation procedures[2].
- [1] Directive 2012/18/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on the control of major- accident hazards involving dangerous substances, amending and subsequently repealing Council Directive 96/82/EC, OJ L 197, 24.7.2012.
- [2] In line with its strategic approach on enforcement action, as set out in the communication of 19 January 2017: EU law: Better results through better application — C/2016/8600, OJ C 18, 19.1.2017, p. 10-20 and in the communication of 13 October 2022: COM(2022) 518 final — Enforcing EU law for a Europe that delivers, the Commission focuses on systemic non-compliance.