ABSTRACT
During the past decade, strategic environmental assessment (SEA) has continued to mature as a field of practice internationally and within the European Union (EU). When compared to its earlier, emergent phase, SEA has become widely used, variously institutionalised and much analysed. In particular, the European Commission (EC) Directive on SEA (2001/42/EC) and the SEA Protocol to the Espoo Convention of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE, 2003) stand out as major legal benchmarks in the development of SEA systems. On the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the SEA Directive (2011) and previously the entry into force of the SEA Protocol (2010), it seemed appropriate to review progress with their implementation and to reflect on future prospects for SEA practice in Europe and internationally.
