The FINANCIAL — BUSINESSEUROPE and EUROCHAMBRES expressed their deep concern about the ongoing revision of the directive on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) which was voted on in the European Parliament plenary, according to EUROCHAMBRES.
While the revision was intended as a simplification exercise, most of the proposals tabled so far went just in the opposite direction.
However, both organisations have expressed their relief that the European Parliament's plenary assembly rejected at least several of the most alarming amendments adopted by the ENVI committee back in July. Notwithstanding, many of the changes confirmed in plenary would still significantly harm the EU as a business location, according to EUROCHAMBRES.
"In its current form, the proposed revision clearly goes against the trend to minimise the regulatory burden on business in order to facilitate the economic recovery and strengthen the competitiveness of our industrial core in the EU," said Markus J. Beyrer, Director General of BUSINESSEUROPE.
Although, EUROCHAMBRES and BUSINESSEUROPE recognise the need to assess the environmental impact of projects before they are approved, they underline that this must not be to the detriment of economic considerations.
"The original directive already necessitates long and bureaucratic authorisation procedures. Additional requirements would cause a decline in infrastructure projects and thus reduce job and growth creation opportunities," added Arnaldo Abruzzini, Secretary-General of EUROCHAMBRES.
The business community now calls on the 28 Member States to align the directive with principles of smart regulation and to drop unnecessary burdens, e.g. mandatory EIA for shale gas exploration, when negotiating the revision in the Council.
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