Sustainable Energy Law Notebook

The European Commission presented on 26 October 2012 proposals to revise the legislation applicable to the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of projects . 25 years of application: time to revise The EIA Directive set rules for the assessment of the environmental effects of public and private projects which are likely to have significant effects on the environment (Art. 1.1, IEA Directive). "Projects" are considered to be both the execution of construction works, installations or schemes, as well as other types of interventions in the natural surroundings and landscape, including extraction of mineral resources (Art. 1.2(a), EIA Directive). The projects subject to EIA are defined in Annexes I and II of the Directive, and include among others the extractive industry, the energy industry, the production and processing of metals, the chemical industry, the processing of metals. The original EIA Directive was adopted in 1985 (Council Directive 8...

The Guardian has published an interesting article on the new energy strategy defended by one of Saudi Arabia representatives, Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, at the occasion of the Global Economic Symposium in Brazil (16-17 October 2012). The official target is to become " 100% powered by renewable and low-carbon forms of energy . " Under this scenario, Saudi's oil reserves could primarily serve for the manufacturing of plastics and polymers , which is a noticeable statement. The article by The Guardian depicts the good energy features of Saudia Arabia in terms of renewables (in particular solar energy, see article from PV magazine here ), but also investments in nuclear energy and carbon capture and storage (CCS) as unavoidable parts of the solution for low carbon economy. Depleted oil and gas fields could serve as CCS storage sites. Worth a read. Full article available  HERE .  See also the " Reassessing Renewable Energies " webpage of the Global ...

The well-known RES LEGAL database has on 15 October 2012 updated its website at the same time that it got full support from the European Commission. It has therefore became the RES LEGAL Europe Database , the " legal sources on renewable energy ". It was formerly hosted by the Germany's Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety It is highly valuable that the new database now covers EFTA and "some" accession countries in addition to the EU 27 Member States. 33 countries in total are now included. It covers legal sources related to renewables within the sectors of  electricity, heating & cooling, and transport . Such initiatives definitely contribute to an increased transparency in access to legal information as a preliminary source of information. The database allows comparing national support schemes, grid access issues and national policies. Congratulations!

Melding til Stortinget om "EØS-avtalen og Norges øvrige avtaler med EU. Sentrale prioriteringer of virkemidler i norsk europapolitikk" ( Meld. St. 5 (2012-2013) ) ble lagt frem 12. oktober 2012. Meldingen understreker hvor viktig EØS-avtalen er for Norge, gjennomgår handlingsrommet for Norge i avtalene med EU og har samtidig som formål å "videreutvikle det tette utenrikspolitiske samarbeidet med EU." I kapittel 6 identifiseres  de sentrale norske prioriteringene for Norges europapolitikken "i tiden fremover" : - norsk næringsliv og verdiskaping i det indre markedet - arbeidsliv og velfred - energi - miljø, klima og mattryghet - forsknings- og utdanningssamarbeid - distrikts- og regionalpolitikk - markedsadgang for norsk sjømat Dette er de områdene som Regjeringen vil fokusere særlig på. Regjeringen peker også på at det årlige arbeidsprogrammet for EU/EØS-saker vil utvikle seg som "et strategisk verktøy i europapolitikken...

The Industry and Energy Committee (ITRE) of the European Parliament voted on 9 October 2012 on the Commission's proposal for a regulation on safety of ofsshore oil and gas prospection, exploration and production activities ( COM(2011) 688 final , dated 27.10.2011).  Objective of the proposal This Commission's proposal aims to answer several concerns: increasing level of activities offshore; the scale of recent accidents which occurred offshore, and in particular in reaction to the accident in the Gulf of Mexico (Deepwater Horizon accident, USA, in 2010 (11 people killed); and before that Montara, Australia in 2009; Usumacinta, Mexico in 2007 (22 killed) as referred to by the Commission). A gap analysis was realised just after the Deepwater Horizon accident followed by the adoption of a Communication "Facing the challenge of the safety of offshore oil and gas activities" (COM(2010 560 final).  Based on these assessments, the Commission estimates that th...