elni Review 2026, Vol. 26, pp. 1-7. https://doi.org/10.46850/elni.2026.001

The article introduces "Regulatory Laundering" to expose a structural vulnerability within the EU's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive. Because the Directive ties its screening mechanisms to the definition of a “project”, a concept inherently requiring physical construction, post-consent operational modifications systematically evade environmental scrutiny. Using the aviation sector (Dublin and Schiphol airports) to illustrate this cross-sectoral loophole, the analysis shows how unassessed operational expansions are normalized through parallel sectoral frameworks that redefine the environmental baseline. This launders non-compliance into formal compliance, renders original development conditions unenforceable, and creates friction with the participatory guarantees of the UNECE Aarhus Convention. Highlighting the limits of teleological interpretation by the Court of Justice, the paper advocates a legislative realignment: the screening obligations under Article 4 must be triggered by any formal administrative or legislative act of re-baselining that materially alters assessed environmental conditions and risks significant adverse effects, independent of concurrent physical works.

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References

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