A Scottish lawmaker is accusing the European Commission of shackling shale gas exploration with “over-zealous restrictions.”

The criticism from Member of European Parliament Struan Stevenson came after the commission's Environment Committee voted last week to include shale gas exploration on a list of activities requiring an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before they can take place. The vote came as part of the committee's review of the EIA Directive. Stevenson said his objection was not about the requirement for impact assessments on shale gas projects overall, but that the requirement applies to projects at the exploratory stage as well.

“This reckless wording could stop shale gas exploration in its tracks,” Stevenson said in a statement following the vote. “It means that people who just want to search around for possible shale deposits, even without actually excavating, will have to do a full EIA. This would be a huge burden and will prevent the exploitation of Britain's massive shale reserves, which include substantial deposits in Scotland.”

“Targeting exploration in this unnecessary way amounts to stifling the potential benefits at the source,” Stevenson continued.

Hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, is a method of extracting shale gas that has raised numerous concerns from environmentalists about its safety and its impact on everything from drinking water to seismic activity. The European Union is divided on the new technology, with some countries like Poland, Germany, and Britain embracing the potential.  Others, including France, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic, have banned the method. Several countries like Lithuania have differing positions within their own governments.

European Commissioner for the Environment Janez Potocnik said this week that his group is not trying to ban fracking across the EU, but rather to regulate it. “We don't talk about banning fracking at the EU level,” Potocnik told AFP after a meeting of environmental ministers in Vilnius, Lithuania.

During a press conference after the meeting, Potocnik noted the discrepancy among member states on the use of fracking. Potocnik said the group expects to treat shale gas exploration much like it has treated the use of nuclear energy. The EU does not force member nations to use nuclear energy, but if they do, certain regulations must be followed. He said the EU won't interfere in member states' ability to decide their own energy mix.

“On the one hand we have a lot of unpredictability for the business sector. On the other hand we have not a lot of guarantee to the public that human health and the environment will be protected,” Potocnik said.

He defended the need for environmental impact assessments, adding that it would be bad for business to try to pursue something without addressing concerns first. “Not addressing the concerns of the public is never good for business.”

Potocnik said the commission should come up with a position by year's end on whether new legislation is needed to address the technology. “We have identified there are some gaps inside the (current) legislation” due to the complexity of the technology, Potocnik said. But he added that the commission has not yet concluded whether new regulations are needed, the existing ones should be amended, or whether guidelines on how to apply existing laws would suffice.

Potocnik noted that Europe is in a better position because the technology is further along in the United States, and Europe can learn from impacts there. However, Europe needs to figure out the extent of its own reserves and the extraction potential given that Europe is more densely populated, he said.

In addition to protecting public health and the environment, the commission also will look to create a level playing field for industry, Potocnik said. One of their guiding principles will be to provide predictability for the business sector “so they will know what they have to fulfill,” he said. “The worst thing for them is that they don't know what they actually have to comply with.”

Potocnik said the commission is in the midst of its impact assessment phase, but recognizes the need to “do this relatively quickly.”

“We see this is quite a matter of urgency because a lot of member states are in different positions,” Potocnik said.

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