47Consequently, a Member State which establishes a criterion which leads, in practice, to an entire class of plans being exempted in advance from the requirement of environmental assessment would exceed the limits of its discretion under Article 3(5) of Directive 2001/42, in conjunction with Article 3(2) and (3), unless all plans exempted could, on the basis of relevant criteria such as, inter alia, their objective, the extent of the territory covered or the sensitivity of the landscape concerned, be regarded as not being likely to have significant effects on the environment (see, to that effect, in respect of the margin of discretion accorded to Member States pursuant to Article 4(2) of Directive 85/337, Case C-427/07 Commission v Ireland [2009] ECR I-6277, paragraph 42 and the case-law cited).
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