Strategic environmental assessment of national policies: the Danish experience of a full concept assessment

Abstract

This article reports on the experience gained in a study on the application of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) on two Danish bills. All five internationally recognised principles of SEA (a stated document, a fixed procedure, criteria for significance, alternatives and public participation) were included in the assessment. One bill was assessed retrospectively, the other while it was prepared by the competent ministry. The influence of the statement on the readings and adoption in Parliament was observed and analysed. A main conclusion is that it is feasible to carry out a full concept SEA on national policies in a highly relevant way. Some characteristics of SEA at the policy level are highlighted and three theses on SEA for further developments are given.