The text of Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 amending Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment1 - Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment - page 386

alia, of their nature, size or location are made subject to a requirement for
development consent and an assessment with regard to their effects. These projects
are defined in Article 4.
2. The environmental impact assessment may be integrated into the existing procedures
for consent to projects in the Member States, or, failing this, into other procedures or
into procedures to be established to comply with the aims of this Directive.
3. Without prejudice to Article 7, Member States may, in exceptional cases, exempt a
spec ific project in whole or in part from the provisions laid down in this Directive.
In this event, the Member States shall:
(a) consider whether another form of assessment would be appropriate and whether
the information thus collected should be made available to the public;
(b) make available to the public concerned the information relating to the exemption
and the reasons for granting it;
(c) inform the Commission, prior to granting consent, of the reasons justifying the
exemption granted, and provide it with the information made available, where
applicable, to their own nationals.
The Commission shall immediately forward the documents received to the
other Member States.
The Commission shall report annually to the Council on the application of
this paragraph.
4. Member States may provide for a single procedure in order to fulfil the requirements
of this Directive and the requirements of Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September
1996 on integrated pollution prevention and control. 2
Article 3
The environmental impact assessment shall identify, describe and assess in an
appropriate manner, in the light of each individual case and in accordance with Articles
4 to 11, the direct and indirect effects of a project on the following factors:
— human beings, fauna and flora;
— soil, water, air, climate and the landscape;
— material assets and the cultural heritage;
— the interaction between the factors mentioned in the first, second and third indents.
Article 4
1. Subject to Article 2(3), projects listed in Annex I shall be made subject to an
assessment in accordance with Articles 5 to 10.
2 OJ No L257, 10.10.1996, p. 26.
2. Subject to Article 2(3), for projects listed in Annex II, the Member States shall
determine through: