16.11.2015

Official Journal of the European Union

C 381/14

(Case C-444/15)

(2015/C 381/17)

Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Associazione Italia Nostra Onlus

Defendants: Comune di Venezia, Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali, Regione del Veneto, Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti, Ministero della Difesa Capitaneria di Porto di Venezia, Agenzia del Demanio

Questions referred

1.Is Article 3(3) of Directive 2001/42/EC (1), in so far as it also concerns the situation referred to in Article 3(2)(b), valid, in the light of the environmental rules laid down by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, to the extent that it removes the systematic requirement to perform a Strategic Environmental Assessment in respect of plans and programmes which were deemed to require an implications assessment pursuant to Articles 6 and 7 of Directive 92/43/EEC (2)?

2.In the event that the Court finds that the above measure is valid, must Article 3(2) and (3) of Directive 2001/42/EC, read in conjunction with recital 10 of that Directive, which states that ‘all plans and programmes which have been determined to require assessment pursuant to Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild flora and fauna are likely to have significant effects on the environment, and should as a rule be made subject to systematic environmental assessment’ be interpreted as precluding legislation, such as the national legislation in question, which, in defining ‘small areas at local level’ in Article 3(3) of Directive 2001/42/EC, only refers to quantitative criteria?

3.If the above question is answered in the negative, must Article 3(2) and (3) of Directive 2001/42/EC, read in conjunction with recital 10 of that Directive, which states that ‘all plans and programmes which have been determined to require assessment pursuant to Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild flora and fauna are likely to have significant effects on the environment, and should as a rule be made subject to systematic environmental assessment’, be interpreted as precluding legislation, such as the national legislation in question, which removes the automatic and compulsory requirement for all new and expansion-related development projects in urban areas covering up to forty hectares or urban-area regeneration or development projects in existing urban areas covering up to ten hectares to undergo the Strategic Environmental Assessment procedure, even where, in view of the potential effects on the sites, they had formerly been deemed to require an implications assessment pursuant to Articles 6 and 7 of Directive 92/43/EEC?

(1) Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment (OJ 2001 L 197, p. 30).

(2) Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (OJ 1992 L 206, p. 7).