Czech president vetoes EIA amendment (České noviny)

Czech President Vaclav Klaus vetoed an amendment to the law on environment impact assessment (EIA) that the EU wants the Czech Republic to pass and returned it to the Chamber of Deputies for reappraisal today.

Klaus said the amendment in its current version represents an unacceptable change to the current concept of the court system.

Environment Minister Ladislav Miko said Klaus's step is very unfortunate.

"It exposes the country to the serious risk of loss in dispute with the European Commission and sizeable financial sanctions. I firmly believe that the Chamber of Deputies will outvote the presidential veto," he told CTK.

Miko said the amendment was a necessary reaction to the proceedings that the European Commission has conducted against the Czech Republic since 2006 over a discrepancy between the law and European law.

"The current state makes it possible only to complain over the unlawful character of the EIA process while the amendment makes it possible to complain about the decision itself," Klaus wrote.

He wrote that under the amendment "other entities than those participating in the particular administrative proceeding will have an opportunity to demand a revision of the final stand by court. These various initiatives will now be able to turn to the administrative court with any complaint, even against proceedings that took many years to complete and demand that the whole process be repeated and that even the construction itself be halted," Klaus wrote.

Miko said the number of complaints will not increase due to the amendment because NGOs already participate in proceedings on the basis of other legal norms.

Klaus wrote that this is the eighth change in the eight-year validity of the law.

He wrote that the law has been amended in reaction to many complaints by civic associations with EU bodies against the allegedly small participation of initiatives active in environment protection in the process of assessing construction projects.

"The truth is that unlike in other EU countries, various initiatives in the Czech Republic have the opportunity to take part in the public discussion on zoning and construction matters, including filing lawsuits," Klaus wrote.

He said the extension of validity of the EIA stands that have already been issued from two to five years is also dubious.

Klaus wrote that the valid law already unnecessarily extends the time of construction.

He wrote that the extension of the deadlines may also affect the planned completion of the nuclear power plant in Temelin, south Bohemia.

Miko used Temelin just to the opposite in the Senate one month ago. He said the discrepancy between the Czech law and the EU directive often leads Austria to challenge the EIA process in connection with the planned completion of Temelin.

Klaus also wrote that the amendment was passed in the Chamber of Deputies because the Environment Ministry made use of the insufficient attention of deputies who thought that they are meeting for the last time before the planned early elections that were not held eventually, however.

He wrote that the amendment should go through the standard approving procedure in both houses of parliament.

čtk, České noviny, 27. 10. 2009, 17:20, News in English

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