§ Mr. MossTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the convention on environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context.
§ Sir George YoungHer Majesty's ambassador to Finland signed the convention on environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context on behalf of the United Kingdom at Espoo, Finland on 26 February 1991.
The convention sets out arrangements under which the environmental assessment procedures for proposed activities which are likely to have significant adverse transboundary impacts are extended to involve the authorities and public in affected countries. The convention applies to the activities specified in appendix I to the convention where they are likely to have significant adverse transboundary impacts, and to any other activities where the parties concerned so agree.
The convention's provisions are consistent with the provisions of directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment which has been implemented in the United Kingdom by various regulations including the Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988 (S.I. No. 1199). Where a project which is likely to have significant adverse transboundary effects is proposed in the United Kingdom and is subject to environmental assessment, the appropriate Government Department will ensure, as part of the environmental assessment procedures, that the requirements of the convention are complied with.
The Government welcome this convention, which was negotiated in an ad hoc group of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, and in the preparation of which the United Kingdom took an active part. For the most part, because of our geographical position, activities in the United Kingdom are unlikely to have significant adverse environmental effects in other countries. However, the convention will make an important contribution to international environmental improvement by ensuring that where development projects are likely to have significant adverse transboundary effects those effects are taken into account and appropriate mitigation measures are considered before such projects are approved.