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PARALLEL TEXTS
La normativa austriaca che, in caso di modifica di un aeroporto, prevede una valutazione ambientale soltanto per i progetti atti a incrementare il numero di movimenti aerei di almeno 20 000 unità all’anno, è in contrasto con il diritto dell’Unione
Inglese tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-13-34_en.htm
Italiano tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-13-34_it.htm
Data documento: 21-03-2013
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Austrian legislation is contrary to EU law in that, when an airport is modified, it provides for an environmental assessment only for projects likely to increase the number of air traffic movements by at least 20 000 per year
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La normativa austriaca che, in caso di modifica di un aeroporto, prevede una valutazione ambientale soltanto per i progetti atti a incrementare il numero di movimenti aerei di almeno 20 000 unità all’anno, è in contrasto con il diritto dell’Unione
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Member States are required to make all projects which could have significant effects on the environment subject to such an assessment
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Gli Stati membri sono infatti tenuti a sottoporre a questo tipo di valutazione tutti i progetti che possano avere un impatto ambientale notevole
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Projects likely to have significant effects on the environment must, in accordance with Council Directive 85/337/EEC, be made subject to an assessment of their impact.
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I progetti per i quali si prevede un notevole impatto ambientale devono essere sottoposti a una valutazione riguardante i loro effetti, conformemente alla direttiva 85/337/CEE.
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However, the Member States retain their discretion as regards carrying out an environmental assessment of a change or extension to a project already authorised.
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Tuttavia, gli Stati membri mantengono un potere discrezionale nel decidere se sottoporvi o meno la modifica o l’ampliamento di un progetto già autorizzato.
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Their decision in that regard must nonetheless be based on a case-by-case examination or on thresholds or criteria which they have established.
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La loro decisione deve però basarsi su un esame caso per caso, o su soglie o criteri che essi hanno predeterminato.
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The Austrian legislation which transposes the directive provides that, with the exception of certain modifications to the runway, only modifications to airports which are likely to increase the number of air traffic movements by at least 20 000 per year must be made subject to an environmental assessment.
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La legge austriaca che traspone la direttiva prevede che, oltre a talune modifiche concernenti le piste di decollo e di atterraggio, devono essere sottoposte a una valutazione ambientale soltanto le modifiche degli aeroporti che siano atte a incrementare il numero di movimenti aerei di almeno 20 000 unità l’anno.
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In 2002, the undertaking Salzburger Flughafen, which operates Salzburg airport, applied for a permit to build an additional terminal.
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La società Salzburger Flughafen, che gestisce l’aeroporto di Salisburgo, ha chiesto nel 2002 un permesso di costruire per un terminal aggiuntivo.
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Its application was granted and that project was completed without having been subject to an environmental assessment.
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La sua domanda è stata accolta e tale progetto è stato realizzato senza che si procedesse alla relativa valutazione ambientale.
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In 2004, the undertaking made new applications to expand the airport area in order to build, inter alia, hangars, warehouses and parking areas.
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Nel 2004, la società ha presentato nuove domande per ampliare la zona aeroportuale al fine di costruire, tra l’altro, hangar, depositi e aree di stazionamento.
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Subsequently, the Umweltsenat (Environmental Tribunal) examined those projects concerning the need to make them subject to an environmental assessment.
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Successivamente, l’Umweltsenat (commissione amministrativa competente in materia ambientale) è stato chiamato a esaminare tali progetti sotto il profilo della necessità di sottoporli a una valutazione ambientale.
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The Umweltsenat found that both the construction of a new terminal and the expansion of the airport, looked at together, required an environmental impact assessment.
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Tale autorità ha accertato che tanto la costruzione di un nuovo terminal, quanto l’ampliamento dell’aeroporto, considerati congiuntamente, richiedevano una valutazione dell’impatto ambientale.
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Although neither of the two projects caused the threshold established by the Austrian legislation to be exceeded, their cumulative effects were, nevertheless, likely to have significant effects on the environment.
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Infatti, sebbene nessuno dei due progetti avesse comportato il superamento della soglia fissata dalla normativa austriaca, i loro effetti cumulativi avrebbero potuto avere un notevole impatto ambientale.
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Salzburger Flughafen appealed against the decision of the Umweltsenat before the Verwaltungsgerichtshof (Supreme Administrative Court, Austria).
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La Salzburger Flughafen ha impugnato la decisione dell’Umweltsenat dinanzi al Verwaltungsgerichtshof (Suprema corte amministrativa, Austria).
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That court asks the Court of Justice whether the directive precludes the Austrian legislation, which does not require an environment impact assessment for large projects comprising several stages of work, none of which causes an increase of at least 20 000 air traffic movements per year.
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Tale giudice chiede alla Corte di giustizia se la direttiva osti alla normativa austriaca, che sottrae alla valutazione dell’impatto ambientale progetti di ampia entità costituiti da diversi lavori, nessuno dei quali provoca un incremento di almeno 20 000 movimenti aerei all’anno.
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In its judgment delivered today, the Court states, first of all, that the Member States have a discretion as regards establishing the thresholds or criteria necessary to ascertain whether the modification or extension of a project already authorised must be made subject to an environmental impact assessment.
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Nella sentenza odierna, la Corte accerta anzitutto che gli Stati membri dispongono di un margine di discrezionalità per quanto attiene alla fissazione delle soglie o dei criteri necessari a stabilire se la modifica o l’ampliamento di un progetto già autorizzato debba essere sottoposta a una valutazione del suo impatto ambientale.
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However, that discretion is limited by the obligation on Member States to make projects likely to have significant effects on the environment subject to an impact assessment.
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Tuttavia, tale margine di discrezionalità è limitato, in quanto gli Stati membri sono tenuti a sottoporre a uno studio dell’impatto i progetti per i quali si prevede un notevole impatto ambientale.
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In that regard, the Court points out that the criteria and thresholds referred to are designed to facilitate examination of the actual characteristics of a project modifying or extending another project already authorised, in order to determine whether the first project is subject to the requirement to carry out an assessment.
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La Corte rammenta che i criteri e le soglie menzionati hanno lo scopo di agevolare la valutazione delle caratteristiche concrete di un progetto consistente nella modifica o nell’ampliamento di un altro progetto già autorizzato, al fine di stabilire se il primo debba essere sottoposto a valutazione.
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However, the purpose of those criteria and thresholds is not to exempt in advance from that obligation certain whole classes of projects.
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Per contro, tali criteri e soglie non perseguono l’obiettivo di sottrarre a priori a detto obbligo intere categorie di progetti.
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Thus, a Member State which establishes criteria or thresholds at a level such that, in practice, an entire class of projects would be exempted in advance from the requirement of an impact assessment would exceed the limits of its discretion under the directive.
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Pertanto, uno Stato membro che li fissasse a un livello tale che, in pratica, un’intera categoria di progetti sarebbe a priori sottratta all’obbligo dello studio del loro impatto eccederebbe il margine di discrezionalità di cui dispone in forza della direttiva.
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Next, the Court holds that the threshold examined is incompatible with the general obligation laid down in the directive for the purposes of correct identification of projects likely to have significant effects on the environment.
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La Corte rileva poi che la soglia esaminata è incompatibile con l’obbligo generale previsto dalla direttiva ai fini della corretta individuazione dei progetti per i quali si prevede un notevole impatto ambientale.
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The establishment of such a high threshold means that changes to the infrastructure of small or medium-sized airports can never, in practice, give rise to an environmental impact assessment, despite the fact that it cannot be excluded that such works may have significant effects on the environment.
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Infatti, la fissazione di una soglia così elevata comporta la conseguenza che le modifiche apportate all’infrastruttura degli aeroporti di piccola o media dimensione non potrebbero mai, in pratica, dare luogo a una valutazione del loro impatto ambientale, sebbene non si possa affatto escludere che tali lavori abbiano un notevole impatto sull’ambiente.
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Furthermore, by establishing such a threshold, the Austrian legislation takes into consideration only the quantitative aspect of the consequences of a project, without taking account of the other selection criteria laid down in the directive, such as the population density of the area affected by the project.
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Inoltre, nel fissare tale soglia, la normativa austriaca prende in considerazione unicamente l’aspetto quantitativo delle conseguenze di un progetto, senza tenere conto degli altri criteri di selezione previsti dalla direttiva, quali la densità demografica della zona interessata dal progetto.
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The airport whose infrastructure is affected by the changes at issue is located near to the city of Salzburg.
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Orbene, l’aeroporto la cui infrastruttura è oggetto delle modifiche di cui trattasi è situato nei pressi della città di Salisburgo.
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The Court also notes that, in accordance with the case-law, it can be necessary to take account of the cumulative effect of a number of projects in order to avoid a circumvention of the objective of the EU legislation by the splitting of projects which, taken together, are likely to have significant effects on the environment.
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La Corte osserva inoltre che, secondo la giurisprudenza, una presa in considerazione cumulativa dell’impatto ambientale di più progetti può rivelarsi necessaria al fine di evitare un’elusione della normativa dell’Unione tramite il frazionamento di progetti che, considerati nel loro insieme, possono avere un notevole impatto ambientale.
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It is for the referring court to examine, in the light of that case-law, whether and to what extent the effects on the environment of both the earlier project for the construction of an additional terminal and the later project for the expansion of the airport area must be assessed as a whole.
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Spetta al giudice del rinvio esaminare, alla luce di tale giurisprudenza, se e in che misura occorra valutare globalmente gli effetti sull’ambiente sia del progetto precedente concernente la costruzione del terminal aggiuntivo, sia del progetto successivo relativo all’ampliamento della zona aeroportuale.
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Finally, the Court answers that, when a Member State has established a threshold, as in the present case, which is likely to exempt entire classes of projects from an environmental assessment, the national authorities are obliged to ensure that it is determined, in each individual case, whether such an assessment must be undertaken and if so, to undertake that assessment.
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Infine, la Corte dichiara che, qualora uno Stato membro abbia fissato una soglia che rischia di sottrarre intere categorie di progetti alla valutazione ambientale, le autorità nazionali devono stabilire, in ogni singolo caso, se questa debba essere realizzata e, in caso affermativo, procedervi.
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NOTE:
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IMPORTANTE:
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A reference for a preliminary ruling allows the courts and tribunals of the Member States, in disputes which have been brought before them, to refer questions to the Court of Justice about the interpretation of European Union law or the validity of a European Union act.
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Il rinvio pregiudiziale consente ai giudici degli Stati membri, nell'ambito di una controversia della quale sono investiti, di interpellare la Corte in merito all’interpretazione del diritto dell’Unione o alla validità di un atto dell’Unione.
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The Court of Justice does not decide the dispute itself.
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La Corte non risolve la controversia nazionale.
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It is for the national court or tribunal to dispose of the case in accordance with the Court’s decision, which is similarly binding on other national courts or tribunals before which a similar issue is raised.
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Spetta al giudice nazionale risolvere la causa conformemente alla decisione della Corte.Tale decisione vincola egualmente gli altri giudici nazionali ai quali venga sottoposto un problema simile.
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LISTEN WITH READSPEAKER
Austrian legislation is contrary to EU law in that, when an airport is
modified, it provides for an environmental assessment only for projects likely
to increase the number of air traffic movements by at least 20 000 per year
Member States are required to make all projects which could have
significant effects on the environment subject to such an assessment
Projects likely to have significant effects on the environment must, in
accordance with Council Directive 85/337/EEC, be made subject to an assessment
of their impact.
However, the Member States retain their discretion as regards carrying
out an environmental assessment of a change or extension to a project already
authorised.
Their decision in that regard must nonetheless be based on a
case-by-case examination or on thresholds or criteria which they have
established.
The Austrian legislation which transposes the directive provides that,
with the exception of certain modifications to the runway, only modifications to
airports which are likely to increase the number of air traffic movements by at
least 20 000 per year must be made subject to an environmental assessment.
In 2002, the undertaking Salzburger Flughafen, which operates Salzburg
airport, applied for a permit to build an additional terminal.
Its application was granted and that project was completed without
having been subject to an environmental assessment.
In 2004, the undertaking made new applications to expand the airport
area in order to build, inter alia, hangars, warehouses and parking areas.
Subsequently, the Umweltsenat (Environmental Tribunal) examined those
projects concerning the need to make them subject to an environmental
assessment.
The Umweltsenat found that both the construction of a new terminal and
the expansion of the airport, looked at together, required an environmental
impact assessment.
Although neither of the two projects caused the threshold established
by the Austrian legislation to be exceeded, their cumulative effects were,
nevertheless, likely to have significant effects on the environment.
Salzburger Flughafen appealed against the decision of the Umweltsenat
before the Verwaltungsgerichtshof (Supreme Administrative Court, Austria).
That court asks the Court of Justice whether the directive precludes
the Austrian legislation, which does not require an environment impact
assessment for large projects comprising several stages of work, none of which
causes an increase of at least 20 000 air traffic movements per year.
In its judgment delivered today, the Court states, first of all, that
the Member States have a discretion as regards establishing the thresholds or
criteria necessary to ascertain whether the modification or extension of a
project already authorised must be made subject to an environmental impact
assessment.
However, that discretion is limited by the obligation on Member States
to make projects likely to have significant effects on the environment subject
to an impact assessment.
In that regard, the Court points out that the criteria and thresholds
referred to are designed to facilitate examination of the actual characteristics
of a project modifying or extending another project already authorised, in order
to determine whether the first project is subject to the requirement to carry
out an assessment.
However, the purpose of those criteria and thresholds is not to exempt
in advance from that obligation certain whole classes of projects.
Thus, a Member State which establishes criteria or thresholds at a
level such that, in practice, an entire class of projects would be exempted in
advance from the requirement of an impact assessment would exceed the limits of
its discretion under the directive.
Next, the Court holds that the threshold examined is incompatible with
the general obligation laid down in the directive for the purposes of correct
identification of projects likely to have significant effects on the
environment.
The establishment of such a high threshold means that changes to the
infrastructure of small or medium-sized airports can never, in practice, give
rise to an environmental impact assessment, despite the fact that it cannot be
excluded that such works may have significant effects on the environment.
Furthermore, by establishing such a threshold, the Austrian legislation
takes into consideration only the quantitative aspect of the consequences of a
project, without taking account of the other selection criteria laid down in the
directive, such as the population density of the area affected by the project.
The airport whose infrastructure is affected by the changes at issue is
located near to the city of Salzburg.
The Court also notes that, in accordance with the case-law, it can be
necessary to take account of the cumulative effect of a number of projects in
order to avoid a circumvention of the objective of the EU legislation by the
splitting of projects which, taken together, are likely to have significant
effects on the environment.
It is for the referring court to examine, in the light of that
case-law, whether and to what extent the effects on the environment of both the
earlier project for the construction of an additional terminal and the later
project for the expansion of the airport area must be assessed as a whole.
Finally, the Court answers that, when a Member State has established a
threshold, as in the present case, which is likely to exempt entire classes of
projects from an environmental assessment, the national authorities are obliged
to ensure that it is determined, in each individual case, whether such an
assessment must be undertaken and if so, to undertake that assessment.
NOTE:
A reference for a preliminary ruling allows the courts and tribunals of
the Member States, in disputes which have been brought before them, to refer
questions to the Court of Justice about the interpretation of European Union law
or the validity of a European Union act.
The Court of Justice does not decide the dispute itself.
It is for the national court or tribunal to dispose of the case in
accordance with the Court’s decision, which is similarly binding on other
national courts or tribunals before which a similar issue is raised. |