Environmental authority - 2014 Annual report

A few days before handing over the presidency of the Autorite Environnementale (environmental authority) to Philippe Ledenvic, Michel Badre presented Ae's activity report for the year 2013. He used the opportunity to review what the authority has achieved since its creation. All the members of Ae were keen to thank him warmly once again for putting the foundations of the new authority in place. The framework for the Autorite Environnementale's actions is set by European Union legislation. 2014 was marked by the adoption of an update to the 'projects' directive on 16 April. Pending its transposition, continuity was maintained: unchanged processes, collegiality, rigorous analysis and reporting, de facto independence... Ae issued 110 opinions, slightly fewer than in 2013 (131). The principles that guided Ae's actions in 2014: - drafting opinions that are useful to the public, to developers and to the authorities responsible for approving projects, plans or programs, by providing an external viewpoint; - aiming for a high level of quality in its analyses and the formulation of its opinions and decisions thanks to the diverse expertise of its members, careful listening to stakeholders (the public and decision-making authorities but also developers and inquiry commissioners) and its strict practice of collegiality; - sharing experience with its European counterparts with a view to moving its processes and analyses forward; - capitalising transparently on its practice by producing a first themed summary of the opinions it published up to 2014. 2014 was also a year of detailed reflection about how to modernise French environmental legislation, focusing on a specific major issue: how can environmental procedures be simplified while improving the consideration given to the environment by projects and public policy? How can conflict be avoided between these two goals? Ae took part in three national working groups looking at the evolution of impact assessments and the work of the Autorite Environnementale, ways of unifying environmental procedures and ways of making improvements to avoid, reduce and, where relevant, compensate for the effects of projects. Its contributions aimed to ensure that, under all circumstances: - the impact assessment should give an overview of all the project's components, updated if necessary if the project evolves or knowledge about its effects or context changes; - the opinion should be issued independently of the developer and the authority responsible for approving the project; - the opinion should be produced on the basis of collective expertise to provide a critical view that is sufficiently broad and has the necessary perspective.