Simplification: Council agrees negotiating stance to fast track environmental assessments

The Council today set its position on a proposal to simplify and accelerate environmental assessments. The aim is to allow project developers to benefit from simplified and accelerated procedures for environmental assessments, including single points of contact, digitalisation and streamlined timelines. This proposal is part of the so-called ‘Omnibus VIII’ simplification package. The package aims to reduce unnecessary administrative costs and burdens, while maintaining the EU’s high standards on environmental protection. “The Irish presidency is determined to deliver on the implementation of the ‘One Europe, One Market’ roadmap. Today, we took another step to deliver on the ‘Omnibus VIII’ package with simpler and more proportionate rules that reduce unnecessary burdens and accelerate environmental assessments while preserving the Union’s high standards for environmental protection to the benefit of our citizens and businesses. The Irish presidency is fully committed to working in pursuit of the ambitious deadline for agreement with the European Parliament by the end of the year.” — Thomas Byrne, Minister of State for European affairs and defence of Ireland “Today’s agreement on a negotiating mandate is another important step in delivering simplification of EU rules on environmental assessments. This targeted package will make environmental assessment procedures clearer, more efficient and predictable, reducing unnecessary administrative burdens for project developers while fully maintaining the EU’s high standards of environmental protection.” — James Browne, Minister for housing, local government and heritage of Ireland The ‘Omnibus VIII’ package comprises targeted measures amending six legislative acts: a regulation on speeding up environmental assessments (RSEA) a regulation and a directive on simplification and reduction of administrative burden an amendment to the directive on the infrastructure for spatial information (INSPIRE) a regulation and a directive suspending the application of the rules on the appointment of an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility (EPR) Today’s agreement on environmental assessments complements the negotiating mandates on the second and third elements of the package agreed by member states’ representatives (Coreper) on 24 June 2026. Member states also agreed today that a targeted solution should be explored with regard to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) obligations under the Packaging and Packaging Waste regulation, due to a possible disproportionate burden placed on small producers of packaging. Main amendments introduced by the Council The Council’s position on RSEA includes the following main elements: an exhaustive list of strategic projects that shall be subject to a new “toolbox” and the accelerated procedures under this regulation has been drawn up; it is, however, possible for the co-legislators to specifically include new types of projects by making a reference to this regulation in future legislative acts the text streamlines as many sectoral permitting provisions as possible so far as environmental assessments are concerned, including a number of provisions from the net zero industry regulation (NZIA), the so-called chips act and the critical raw materials act (CRMA) the time limits proposed by the Commission were extended to ensure that competent authorities remain able to carry out all steps prescribed by relevant legislation the provision on substantial preclusion was amended to ensure full compliance with the Aarhus Convention, the UN convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters the scope of the provision pertaining to the Habitats and Birds Directives has been extended to include well defined recurring activities, for instance forestry and watercourse maintenance, with additional safeguards against negative impact on animal and plant populations also added. Finally, on the issue of the single point of contact (SPOC), the mandate respects the calls for sufficient flexibility, especially for member states with decentralised administrative structures, while acknowledging the need to prevent fragmentation amongst SPOCs already established under other legislative instruments, or to be established by future legislation. Next steps The presidency will enter negotiations with the European Parliament on this file as soon as the latter adopts its own position with a view to reaching a speedy provisional agreement on the overall package. Background In October 2024, the European Council called on all EU institutions, member states and stakeholders, as a matter of priority, to take work forward, notably in response to the challenges identified in the reports by Enrico Letta (‘Much more than a market’) and Mario Draghi (‘The future of European competitiveness’). Since February 2025, the Commission has put forward ten ‘Omnibus’ packages aiming to simplify existing legislation, including an eight Omnibus on simplification of administrative burden in environmental legislation in December 2025. The 'One Europe, One Market' roadmap signed by the presidents of the Council of the EU, the European Parliament and the Commission on 24 April 2026 in the margins of the informal leaders’ meeting in Nicosia includes the objective of concluding work on all simplification packages by the end of 2027. Regulation on speeding up environmental assessments, Commission proposal, 10 December 2025 Simplification: Council agrees negotiating stance to simplify and strengthen environmental rules, Council press release, 24 June 2026 Regulation on speeding up environmental assessments – EU Law tracker (timeline) Simplification of EU rules (background information) View in browser   Press material Wednesday, 30 September 2026     ● Council of the EU   30/09/2026 17:04 | Press release | Simplification: Council agrees negotiating stance to fast track environmental assessments   The Council today set its position on a proposal to simplify and accelerate environmental assessments. The aim is to allow project developers to benefit from simplified and accelerated procedures for environmental assessments, including single points of contact, digitalisation and streamlined timelines. This proposal is part of the so-called ‘Omnibus VIII’ simplification package. The package aims to reduce unnecessary administrative costs and burdens, while maintaining the EU’s high standards on environmental protection. “The Irish presidency is determined to deliver on the implementation of the ‘One Europe, One Market’ roadmap. Today, we took another step to deliver on the ‘Omnibus VIII’ package with simpler and more proportionate rules that reduce unnecessary burdens and accelerate environmental assessments while preserving the Union’s high standards for environmental protection to the benefit of our citizens and businesses. The Irish presidency is fully committed to working in pursuit of the ambitious deadline for agreement with the European Parliament by the end of the year.” — Thomas Byrne, Minister of State for European affairs and defence of Ireland “Today’s agreement on a negotiating mandate is another important step in delivering simplification of EU rules on environmental assessments. This targeted package will make environmental assessment procedures clearer, more efficient and predictable, reducing unnecessary administrative burdens for project developers while fully maintaining the EU’s high standards of environmental protection.” — James Browne, Minister for housing, local government and heritage of Ireland The ‘Omnibus VIII’ package comprises targeted measures amending six legislative acts: a regulation on speeding up environmental assessments (RSEA) a regulation and a directive on simplification and reduction of administrative burden an amendment to the directive on the infrastructure for spatial information (INSPIRE) a regulation and a directive suspending the application of the rules on the appointment of an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility (EPR) Today’s agreement on environmental assessments complements the negotiating mandates on the second and third elements of the package agreed by member states’ representatives (Coreper) on 24 June 2026. Member states also agreed today that a targeted solution should be explored with regard to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) obligations under the Packaging and Packaging Waste regulation, due to a possible disproportionate burden placed on small producers of packaging. Main amendments introduced by the Council The Council’s position on RSEA includes the following main elements: an exhaustive list of strategic projects that shall be subject to a new “toolbox” and the accelerated procedures under this regulation has been drawn up; it is, however, possible for the co-legislators to specifically include new types of projects by making a reference to this regulation in future legislative acts the text streamlines as many sectoral permitting provisions as possible so far as environmental assessments are concerned, including a number of provisions from the net zero industry regulation (NZIA), the so-called chips act and the critical raw materials act (CRMA) the time limits proposed by the Commission were extended to ensure that competent authorities remain able to carry out all steps prescribed by relevant legislation the provision on substantial preclusion was amended to ensure full compliance with the Aarhus Convention, the UN convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters the scope of the provision pertaining to the Habitats and Birds Directives has been extended to include well defined recurring activities, for instance forestry and watercourse maintenance, with additional safeguards against negative impact on animal and plant populations also added. Finally, on the issue of the single point of contact (SPOC), the mandate respects the calls for sufficient flexibility, especially for member states with decentralised administrative structures, while acknowledging the need to prevent fragmentation amongst SPOCs already established under other legislative instruments, or to be established by future legislation. Next steps The presidency will enter negotiations with the European Parliament on this file as soon as the latter adopts its own position with a view to reaching a speedy provisional agreement on the overall package. Background In October 2024, the European Council called on all EU institutions, member states and stakeholders, as a matter of priority, to take work forward, notably in response to the challenges identified in the reports by Enrico Letta (‘Much more than a market’) and Mario Draghi (‘The future of European competitiveness’). Since February 2025, the Commission has put forward ten ‘Omnibus’ packages aiming to simplify existing legislation, including an eight Omnibus on simplification of administrative burden in environmental legislation in December 2025. The 'One Europe, One Market' roadmap signed by the presidents of the Council of the EU, the European Parliament and the Commission on 24 April 2026 in the margins of the informal leaders’ meeting in Nicosia includes the objective of concluding work on all simplification packages by the end of 2027. Regulation on speeding up environmental assessments, Commission proposal, 10 December 2025 Simplification: Council agrees negotiating stance to simplify and strengthen environmental rules, Council press release, 24 June 2026 Regulation on speeding up environmental assessments – EU Law tracker (timeline) Simplification of EU rules (background information)   Visit the website Contacts Dimosthenis Mammonas +32 477 61 20 77 / +32 2 281 2504 Discover more news about the EU on the Council’s Website   Follow us on:   You received this message because you signed up for our email alerts. Unsubscribe | Manage alerts | Legal notice | Copyright | Contact us Please do not reply to this email