The Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive

The Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive (Directive 2001/42/EC) (SEA Directive) has been a lurking legal presence in EU and UK environmental law. Now, just over a decade since its implementation, the impacts of the SEA Directive are beginning to be felt throughout the UK, and more broadly throughout the European Union as a whole. These developments have been driven both by the expansive interpretation of the Directive's scope by the Court of Justice of the European Union and by a slow learning process about how this new type of regulation should be legally interpreted and applied. This edited collection is the first volume to reflect comprehensively on the emerging legal identity of SEA in the EU and UK. With contributions addressing the impact of the SEA Directive on the fields of town and country planning and European environmental law, the book is a comprehensive analysis of all aspects of the Directive, from its history and scope, to its impact on governmental policy and its implications in practice. The volume both reflects on key cases such as Case C-567/10 Inter-Environnement Bruxelles and HS2, and looks forward, as it considers and projects future legal implications of the SEA Directive. Written by a blend of distinguished academics and leading practitioners, it provides an in-depth critique and rounded appreciation of both the immediate practical effects of SEA and its wider impact on European and UK environmental law.

Part I: Understanding the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive
1. The History and Context of the SEA Directive
2. The Transposition of the SEA Directive
3. Plans and Programmes Under the SEA Directive
4. The Meaning of 'Required by Legislative, Regulatory or Administrative Provisions'
5. The Meaning of 'Early and Effective Opportunity' for Consultation
6. The Role of Alternatives in the SEA Directive
7. From SA to SEA: Sustainability Appraisals and Strategic Environmental Assessment

Part II: Examining the Purpose and Impact of the SEA Directive
8. Blazing Upstream? Strategic Environmental Assessment as 'Hot' Law
9. 'Streamlining' the SEA Process
10. SEA and the Control of Government Environmental Policy

Part III: SEA Beyond Town and Country Planning
11. SEA of Non-Town and Country Planning Plans or Programmes
12. The Strategic Environmental Assessment and Water Framework Directives
13. Uncharted Waters: SEA in the UK Offshore Area

Part IV: The SEA Experience in Neighbouring Jurisdictions
14. Strategic Environmental Assessment in a Cold Climate: The Scottish Experience
15. Any Seaport in a Storm: The Northern Ireland SEA Experience 3
16. Strategic Environmental Assessment: The Irish Experience
17. Afterword: Aarhus and HS2