ABSTRACT
The previous Chapters investigated the three government layers involved in the filtering process of EU environmental policies. The Chapters highlighted key problems which contribute towards the EU environmental policy implementation deficit. The following case study examines the EU environmental policy ‘reality’ further by focusing on the filtering process of one particular piece of legislation: the Council Directive of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (85/337/EEC) (in short environmental impact assessment or EIA Directive). 1 The actual field research for this case study was conducted in 1997. Since then two significant changes have occurred which have to be taken into consideration:
the EU adopted Directive (97/11/EC) amending the EIA Directive
Scottish devolution has had legal and practical implications for the EIA policy in Scotland.
