The Court of Appeal has asked the EU’s highest court to decide whether Ireland’s Food Vision 2030 agri-food strategy is the type of policy that must undergo an appropriate assessment of its effects on protected European sites.
Friends of the Irish Environment challenged the Government’s 2021 approval for publication of Food Vision 2030, arguing that the strategy required assessments under EU environmental law and that the assessments carried out were deficient.
The Court of Appeal has now decided part, but not all, of that dispute.
Ms Justice Butler rejected the environmental group’s argument that because the State had already conducted strategic environmental assessment and appropriate assessment processes, it was legally prevented from later arguing that those assessments had not been required. The court held that the underlying question — whether the strategy falls within the scope of the relevant EU directives — remains an objective legal issue.
The court also dismissed the appeal under the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive. It found that Food Vision 2030 was not a “plan or programme” within Article 2(a) because its preparation and adoption were not required or regulated by legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions.
The position under the Habitats Directive was less clear. Food Vision 2030 is a high-level national policy. It does not itself authorise development, bind later decision-makers or identify particular developments or locations. That makes it difficult to assess effects on individual Natura 2000 sites with the level of scientific certainty normally required for an appropriate assessment.
However, EU Commission guidance suggested that high-level strategic policies could still require assessment. The Court of Appeal therefore referred three questions to the CJEU concerning whether such a policy can constitute a “plan or project” and, if so, what level of assessment is required.
The remaining appeal is adjourned until the CJEU answers those questions. Costs were also reserved.