The Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive A Plan for Success?

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.

Gregory Jones QC is a barrister practising at Francis Taylor Building, Temple, London. He is called to the bars of England & Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Since working as a stagiaire at the European Commission and as Jean Pierre Warner Scholar at the European Court of Justice, Gregory has established himself as a leading practitioner in the fields of planning and environmental law with a particular expertise in the impact of EU environmental law. Appointed by the Irish government, Gregory chaired the independent review of An Bord Pleanála. Eloise Scotford is a Senior Lecturer in Law at The Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London. She actively researches in the areas of climate change law and governance, waste regulation, air quality control, comparative environmental law and the intersection between environmental problems and broader legal frameworks. She is an Associate Member of Landmark Chambers, a visiting lecturer in environmental law at Bocconi University in Milan, a member of the Avosetta Group of EU environmental law experts, and Analysis Editor of the Journal of Environmental Law.