§ Baroness Nicolasked Her Majesty's Government:
What measures, if any, they intend to take over and above those provided for by the Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations in order to implement the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context which was signed at Espoo, Finland on 26th February 1991.
§ Baroness BlatchNo provisions additional to those already in force requiring environmental assessment in accordance with Directive 85/337/EEC are needed to enable the United Kingdom to comply with the convention. The Government departments concerned already have arrangements in place as part of the environmental assessment procedure to identify projects arising in the United Kingdom which are likely to have significant adverse effects in another country and to undertake the consultations about such projects required by the convention. Since some of the matters in the convention fall within Community competence, the EC's own ratification will need to be considered by the Council of Ministers.