§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he considered that the proposed Cardiff bay barrage required an environment impact assessment to be carried out in accordance with articles 5 to 10 of European Council directive 85/337/EEC.
§ Mr. David HuntThe directive indicates that it is not applied to "projects the details of which are adopted by specific acts of national legislation, since the objectives of this directive, including that of supplying information, are achieved through the legislative process". However, in accordance with Standing Orders, an environmental statement has been supplied and published, and while article 7 is not considered to be relevant in this case, it is clearly right that in its consideration of the Bill, Parliament should assess the environmental effects of the project in accordance with the provisions of the directive identified in the question.