Governments, companies, environmental associations and citizens all over the European Union (EU) are struggling with large scale projects. On the one hand large scale projects can contribute to economic development, on the other hand they often also raise environmental concerns. Because of their size and potential impact, large scale projects usually lead to heavy debates and quickly become of great symbolic value. Consequently, large scale projects are excellent examples of the difficulty to balance economic development with environmental protection.The types of large scale projects, planned as well as under construction in the EU, are very diverse. One can think of all kinds of infrastructure projects (motorways, railways, waterways, stations, ports, airports,...), building projects (offices, housing projects, sports stadiums, redevelopment of brownfields,...), waste projects (incineration, landfill,...), energy projects (electricity and gas networks, wind farms, biogas installations, heat networks, extraction projects,...), climate projects (CDM projects,...), water projects, etc.In order to promote the legal thinking about all kinds of environmental and planning law aspects of large scale projects, Hasselt University and KU Leuven, Campus Brussels jointly hosted from 10 to 12 September 2014 the second European Environmental Law Forum (EELF) Conference, with as central topic ''Environmental and Planning Law Aspects of Large Scale Projects''. The conference focused more specifically on the following aspects:- The role of spatial and environmental planning- Permitting and review procedures- Critical sectoral regimes- Horizontal measuresThis book offers a selection of the contributions presented at the EELF Conference. They have all been submitted to two double-blind peer reviews.The book is subdivided into six main themes:1. General2. Public participation3. Environmental impact assessment4. Water5. Nature6. Land use

This book explains the functioning of shared competences in environmental protection by focusing on member states' interaction with the EU framework. By studying this interaction, Squintani reveals room for improving the level of environmental protection, legal certainty, and efficiency of the system for environmental protection envisaged under the EU Treaties. Accordingly, this book makes a contribution to EU environmental law and policy, but also should be of interest to constitutional lawyers more generally and to scholars working in any field of EU policy and law in which minimum harmonisation is used. Thanks to its focus and clear, accessible prose, this book is also valuable additional reading material for environmental law courses, and to those involved in decision-making in the EU.