substitute the institution initially established in 1982. At the central level, EEAA represents the executive arm of the Ministry. The purpose of EIA is to ensure the protection and conservation of the environment and natural resources including human health aspects against uncontrolled development. The long-term objective is to ensure a sustainable economic development that meets present needs without compromising future generations ability to meet their own needs. EIA is an important tool in the integrated environmental management approach. EIA must be performed for new establishments or projects and for expansions or renovations of existing establishments according to the Law for the Environment. EU A wide range of instruments exist in the Environmental policy of the European Union. Among them the European Union has established a mix of mandatory and discretionary procedures to assess environmental impacts. Directive (85/337/EEC) on Environmental Impact Assessments (known as the EIA Directive) was first introduced in 1985, amended in 1997, amended again in 2003 following EU signature of the 1998 Aarhus Convention, and once more in 2009. The initial Directive of 1985 and its three amendments have been codified in Directive 2011/92/EU of 13 December 2011. In 2001, the issue was enlarged to include the assessment of plans and programmes by the so-called Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive (2001/42/EC), which was amended by Directive 2014/52/EU of 16 April 2014. Under the EU directive, a compliant EIA must provide certain information in seven key areas: Description of the project Description of actual project and site description Break the project down into its key components, i.e. construction, operations, decommissioning For each component list all of the sources of environmental disturbance For each component all the inputs and outputs must be listed, e.g., air pollution, noise, hydrology Alternatives that have been considered Examine alternatives that have been considered Example: in a biomass power station, will the fuel be sourced locally or nationally? Description of the environment List of all aspects of the environment that may be affected by the development Example: populations, fauna, flora, air, soil, water, humans, landscape, cultural heritage This section is best carried out with the help of local experts, e.g. the RSPB in the UK Description of the significant effects on the environment The word significant is crucial here as the definition can vary 'Significant' must be defined The most frequent method used here is use of the Leopold matrix The matrix is a tool