The government amendment on the EIA process faced criticism in the parliamentary committee

Prague - The parliamentary committee for public administration today suspended the discussion of the government bill on assessing the environmental impacts of construction plans, known as the EIA process. During the debate, the members of parliament mostly argued that the regulation would complicate and extend the approval of constructions and goes beyond the requirements of the European Commission. The Minister of the Environment, Richard Brabec (ANO), characterized it as a compromise. He stated that if it does not take effect from January 2015, the drawing of funds from European funds would be jeopardized.
    According to the reporter Jiří Petrů (ČSSD), the proposal will have negative impacts on construction, increase administration, and raise corruption risks. Petr Bendl (ODS) spoke similarly, stating that various civic associations would gain broader opportunities to block approval processes and pressure investors. He referred to them as "publicly beneficial commercial companies" that will earn a living by complicating construction plans. "I am astonished by the powers of civic associations," added Josef Zahradníček (KSČM).
    "I reject the opinions that we are a ministry of ecological activists. At this moment, we were on the edge of the possible," Brabec responded. According to him, the amendment meets the requirements of the European Commission.
    Representatives of the Chamber of Commerce presented an amendment that would increase the built-up areas for which an assessment of their environmental impacts would be necessary for certain constructions. According to them, the European Commission could not protest against this, as the setting of these values is within the authority of individual member states.
    Brabec labeled the regulation as key for drawing approximately 100 billion crowns from European funds for transport constructions from the current operational program and for starting the drawing of all programs in the new programming period, which involves about 600 billion crowns. "This is how serious the situation is," he told the members of parliament.
    The amendment is expected to enforce the binding nature of the results of environmental impact assessments for subsequent territorial or building proceedings. The public will be able to legally challenge the decision that a specific project does not require assessment. The deadline for this so-called scoping procedure is set to be extended from one month to two, and the court will have five months to decide on a lawsuit.
    According to the minister, the proposal is partial. He described the planned amendment, which would unify the procedures for impact assessment, territorial procedures, and building procedures, as a breakthrough. It could be effective from the year after next, according to him.
    Similar to the committee for public administration, the economic committee and the committee for the environment previously suspended the discussion of the amendment. The members of parliament also subjected it to an initial round in the plenary to the European committee.