tim into article 7.28a of the EMA. To facilitate EIA practice, guidelines for appropriate separation for EIA have been prepared and are awaiting parliamentary approval. The guidelines contain suggestions on how to organise such appropriate separation. The separation should be at least on a personal level within the administration but might need to be extended to heads of departments. Furthermore, the guidelines suggest separation at government level too, e.g. two different local authority councillors or ministers. In any case, it is expected that the requirement for separation will generate much case law. To avoid any appearance of a conflict of interests within an administration, independent quality control by the NCEA may be requested. Summing up: the revised EIA Directive will not have a significant influence on the way in which quality control is dealt with in the Netherlands. The amendments in Dutch law do strengthen the position of the NCEA somewhat in EIA practice. However, the formulation of the articles on quality control are rather vague and leave room for interpretation. It will be up to the judges of the European Court of Justice to specify how these articles should be interpreted. Contact: Mr Gijs Hoevenaars, Legal Secretary ghoevenaars@eia.nl 15
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