E-18/24 Norwegian State v Greenpeace Nordic, Nature and Youth Norway
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Deadlines: Motivation ministry: 20 September 2024 Written observations: 5 November 2024
Keywords: petroleum, environmental effects
Subject: Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment: Article 3.
Facts of the case: Appellant is the Norwegian State, represented by the Ministry of Energy. Respondents are ‘Greenpeace Nordic’ and ‘Nature and Youth Norway’. The case concerns the validity of decisions by the Ministry of Energy, to approve plans for development and operations (PDO) for thee petroleum projects in the North Sea. The petroleum activities consists out of three phases: the opening of an area for exploration, the exploration phase and the production phase. Licenses must be obtained before the development and production can take place. These licenses can be obtained by getting approval for the PDO of the petroleum discovery in question. The PDO consists of a technical-economical description of the project and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), subject to the requirements of Directive 2011/92/EU, as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU. The EIA Directive requires an EIA of projects that are likely to have significant effects on the environment. Member States have to adopt necessary measures to ensure that such projects are made subject to a requirement for development consent and an EIA, before development consent is given.
Request for an advisory opinion: The referring court states that to their knowledge, there is no case law from the Court of Justice or the EFTA Court specifically on petroleum extraction under the EIA Directive. The request for an Advisory Opinion concerns the interpretation of Article 3(1) of the Directive, which encompasses ‘the direct and indirect significant effects of the project’. The court is uncertain as to whether greenhouse gas emissions from the consumption of extracted oil and gas are ‘environmental effects’ of a plan to open an area for petroleum production. Furthermore it is questioned what the consequence of a breach may be, since the EIA Directive does not contain provisions governing the consequences of a breach.
Cited (recent) case-law: C-329/17; C-72/95; C-2/07; C-275/09 Brussel Hoofdstedelijk Gewest and Others; C-411/17 Bond Beter Leefmilieu Vlaanderen; C-201/02 Wells; C-41/11 Inter-Environnement Wallonie; C-142/7 Ecologistas en Accion
Policy Area: LVVN
