ABSTRACT
Environmental assessments were, at EU level, first announced in 1977, when the European Commission, inspired by legislation in the United States and in France and by a failed attempt in Germany to introduce such assessments,1 declared that it was to examine the possibility of proposing legislation in order systematically to examine the incidences of certain plans and projects on the environment.2
Having discussed twenty-three internal draft texts, it made a proposal in 1980 for a directive on the environmental impact assessment of certain public and private projects.3
