Judgment_paragraph 114 · Coöperatie Mobilisation for the Environment UA and Vereniging Leefmilieu v College van gedeputeerde staten van Limburg and College van gedeputeerde staten van Gelderland (C-293/17, C-294/17)

114According to the Court’s case-law, the condition governing the need to undertake an assessment of the implications of a plan or a project on a particular site, in accordance with which such an assessment must be carried out where there are doubts as to the existence of significant effects, does not permit that assessment to be avoided, in respect of certain categories of plans or projects, on the basis of criteria which do not adequately ensure that those projects are not likely to have a significant effect on the protected sites. The option of generally exempting certain activities, in accordance with the rules in force, from the need for an assessment of their implications for the site concerned is not such as to guarantee that those activities do not adversely affect the integrity of the protected site. Thus, Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive does not authorise a Member State to enact national legislation which allows the environmental impact assessment obligation for certain types of plans or projects to benefit from a general waiver (see, to that effect, judgment of 26 May 2011, Commission v Belgium, C‑538/09, EU:C:2011:349, paragraphs 41 to 43 and the case-law cited).