Fear of the Dark? The CJEU adds electricity shortage to the reasons justifying an ex post regularization of projects without an EIA: Case C-411/17 Inter-Environnement Wallonie and Bond Beter Leefmilieu Vlaanderen,EU:C:2019:622

Abstract

In July 2019, the CJEU delivered its judgment on the case C-411/17 Inter-Environnement Wallonie and Bond Beter Leefmilieu Vlaanderen. The case relates to the protracted debate on the production and use of nuclear energy in Belgium, which at present culminated with the legislative extension of the operation of two nuclear power stations. The CJEU ruled that the extension should have only been granted after an assessment on the stations’ impact on the environment had been carried out and, thus, the national measures were in breach of EU law. However, it is here argued that the judgment does not settle the dispute: it only initiates its second phase. Accordingly, this contribution focuses on the judgment’s expected implications for EU law and for the national constitutional order.