U N E P / M A P

1. Environmental policy and SEA • Many general environmental agreements and conventions include a requirement for environmental assessment: • Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention) (Article 4) • Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean (Article 17) • Convention on Biological Diversity, Rio 92 (Article 14) • Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, Espoo, 1991 U N E P /M A P United Nations Environment Programme -Mediterranean Action Plan

2. Mediterranean context • Barcelona Convention, Barcelona 1976, amended 1995 • The Parties pledge themselves to take appropriate measures to implement the Mediterranean Action Plan, and, further, to pursue the protection of the marine environment and the natural resources of the Mediterranean Sea Area as an integral part of the development process • The Parties shall undertake Environmental Impact Assessment for proposed activities that are likely to cause a significant adverse impact on the marine environment • The Parties shall promote cooperation between and among States in EIA procedures • The Parties shall commit themselves to promote ICZM U N E P /M A P United Nations Environment Programme -Mediterranean Action Plan

3. Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean, adopted 1995 • The Parties shall adopt strategies, plans and programmes for the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of marine and coastal biological resources and shall integrate them into their relevant sectorial and intersectorial policies (Article 3) • In the planning process leading to decisions on development projects and activities that could significantly affect protected areas and species and their habitats, the Parties shall evaluate and take into consideration possible impacts (Article 17) • Convention on Biological Diversity, Rio 92 • The Parties shall introduce appropriate procedures requiring environmental impact assessment of its proposed project that are likely to have significant adverse effect on biological diversity with a view to avoiding or minimizing such effects and, where appropriate, allow for public participation in such procedures (Article 14) U N E P /M A P United Nations Environment Programme -Mediterranean Action Plan

4. Draft Guidelines for Incorporating Biodiversity-related issues into Environmental Impact Assessment Legislation and/or Process and in Strategic Environmental Assessment • prepared by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity • urges the Parties for incorporating biodiversity-related issues into environmental impact assessment legislation and in strategic environmental assessment U N E P /M A P United Nations Environment Programme -Mediterranean Action Plan

5. Draft Guidelines describes: • purpose and approach • screening • scoping • impact analysis and assessment • mitigation measures • reporting • review • decision-making • monitoring and environmental auditing • in Appendixes provides the screening criteria, Indicative List of Examples of Functions of the Natural Environment that are directly or indirectly derived from Biological Diversity, and Biodiversity Check List on Screening U N E P /M A P United Nations Environment Programme -Mediterranean Action Plan

6. Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context • prepared by UN/ECE • the Parties shall undertake EIA for activities that are likely to cause a significant adverse transboundary impacts and shall notify affected Parties prior to a decision to authorize or undertake the proposed activity • "Transboundary impact" means any impact within an area under jurisdiction of a Party caused by a proposed activity the physical origin of which is situated wholly or in part within the area under the jurisdiction of another Party. U N E P /M A P United Nations Environment Programme -Mediterranean Action Plan

7. Draft Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (prepared by UN/ECE, expected to be adopted in May 2003) • The objective of the Protocol is to ensure that the protection of the environment, including health, forms an integral part of the strategic decision-making • SEA means a participatory evaluation of the potential significant implications for the environment of a proposed strategic decision, with the purpose of integrating environmental, including health, protection into the decision-making process • Requires modification of the planning and decision-making framework to facilitate the integration of SEA • Requires early, timely and effective public participation • Requires SAE for plans, programmes, policies and legal acts • Defines: Scoping, Reporting, Quality Control, Decision, Monitoring and Strategic decisions with transboundary implications U N E P /M A P United Nations Environment Programme -Mediterranean Action Plan

8. Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Assessment of the Effects of certain Plans and Programmes on the Environment (EU SEA Directive) • EU SEA Directive aims at: • Preservation, protection and improvement of environmental quality • Protection of human health • Prudent and rational utilisation of natural resources • Based on the precautionary principle • EU SEA Directive • requires the integration of environmental considerations into plans and programs which set a framework for future development • adopted a Sustainable Development as a guiding principle • Definition: • " To cover the needs of the present generation without compromising thepossibility of future generations to cover their needs." U N E P /M A P United Nations Environment Programme -Mediterranean Action Plan

9. Subjects to SEA are: • plans and programs which are likely to have significant environmental effects: • Agriculture • Forestry • Fisheries • Industry (including mineral extraction • Transport • Waste management • Telecommunications • Tourism • Urban and land use • plans and programmes, which have been to require an assessment pursuant to the Directive on the conservation of natural habitats and of flora and fauna (92/43/EEC) • Plans and programmes which are not subject of the Directive: • Of national defense or civil emergency • Financial or budget plans and programmes U N E P /M A P United Nations Environment Programme -Mediterranean Action Plan

10. Criteria for determining the likely significance of effects of plans and programmes • Characteristics of plans and programmes • The degree to which plan or programme sets a framework for projects and other activities • The degree to which plan or programme influences other plans and programs • The relevance of the plan or programme for the integration of environmental considerations • Environmental problems relevant to the plan or programme • Characteristics of the effects and of the area likely to be affected: • The probability, duration, frequency and reversibility of the effects • The cumulative nature of the effects • The transboundary nature of the effects • The risk to human health or the environment • The magnitude and spatial extent of the effects • The value and vulnerability of the area likely to be affected • The effects on areas or landscapes which have a recognized, national or international protection status U N E P /M A P United Nations Environment Programme -Mediterranean Action Plan

11. Consultations • The draft plan and programme and related SEA shall be made available to: • Authorities, which by reason of their specific environmental responsibilities, are likely to be concerned by the environmental effects of implementing plans and programmes • Public, including the public affected or likely to be affected • Transboundary consultations • If the implementation of a plan or programme in one Member State is likely to have significant effects on the environment in another Member State, or where a Member State likely to be affected, the Member State preparing the plan or programme shall before its adoption forward a copy of the draft plan or programme and the relevant environmental report to the other Member State. U N E P /M A P United Nations Environment Programme -Mediterranean Action Plan

12. Decision making • The environmental report shall be taken into account during the preparation of the plan or programme and before its adoption or submission to the legislative procedure • Monitoring • Member State shall monitor the significant environmental effect of the implementation of plans and programmes in order to identify at early stage unforeseen adverse effects, and to be able to undertake appropriate remedial action. • Implementation of the Directive • By the integration into existing procedures for the adoption of plans and programmes, or • By establishing a procedure to comply with the Directive U N E P /M A P United Nations Environment Programme -Mediterranean Action Plan

13. Contact address: Mr. Ante Baric, GEF Project Manager UNEP/MAP Vas. Konstantinou 48 11635 Athens, Greece Tel: + 30 210 7273102; Fax: + 30 210 7253196 E-mail: abaric@unepmap.gr U N E P /M A P United Nations Environment Programme -Mediterranean Action Plan