Judgment_paragraph 67 · Nomarchiaki Aftodioikisi Aitoloakarnanias and Others v Ipourgos Perivallontos, Chorotaxias kai Dimosion ergon and Others (C-43/10)

67Consequently, consent was capable of being given to a project such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which is not subject to Article 4 of Directive 2000/60 and which would have been liable to have adverse effects on water of the kind stated in Article 4(7), at the very least if:— all practicable steps were taken to mitigate the adverse impact of the project on the status of the body of water;— the reasons why that project had to be carried out were specifically set out and explained;— that project served a general interest which might consist in, inter alia, the supply of water, electricity production or irrigation, and/or the benefits to the environment and society linked to the achievement of the objectives set out in Article 4(1) were outweighed by the benefits to human health, to the maintenance of human safety or to sustainable development resulting from that project, and— lastly, the beneficial objectives pursued by that project could not for reasons of technical feasibility or disproportionate cost be achieved by other means which would have been a significantly better environmental option.