The questionnaire also asks if EIA decision and the development consent should obligatorily take the form of a single decision (in other words, if separate decisions first on EIA and then on development consent should be avoided). With regards to this, the experience of NGOs (some of the cases are mentioned above) shows that the situation when EIA is a separate procedure concluded not by a binding decision but by a non-binding “opinion” is the most problematic. This causes many problems, namely with regard to the requirements of the Directive concerning public participation and access to justice, and it also diminishes the chance that the results.
