The Court of Justice plays an important role in implementation and interpretation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive. Knowledge of its judgements is therefore necessary for a better understanding of substance and aims of the EIA Directive. The purpose of the booklet is to assemble the most important rulings of the European Court of Justice related to the provisions of the codified EIA Directive. The booklet also includes some relevant opinions of the Advocates General in relation to cases on access to justice; the Court rulings in these cases are expected to be delivered in the coming months. The Commission's services will update the booklet regularly to take into account recent rulings of the Court of Justice.
The first part of the booklet summarises statements of the Court of Justice which can be considered as general principles of the EIA Directive or the EU law as a whole. The second part contains statements of the Court, as they were pronounced in each particular case, concerning the provisions of the EIA Directive. The Annex contains the main Judgments of the Court of Justice mentioned in the booklet sorted by the date of publication. In addition, references for a preliminary ruling are sometimes accompanied by information related to the national judgment which has provided grounds for a reference to the Court, as well as by a summary of the final judgment of the national courts following the Court ruling.
