EU local and regional authorities want the EU "to urgently introduce mandatory environmental impact assessments for all shale gas and oil projects," the EU Committee of the Regions said Thursday.
The committee is the EU's assembly of regional and local authority representatives from all 28 EU countries.
The committee's call comes a day after the EP voted to require shale project developers to carry out full environmental impact assessments as part of draft updates to the EU environmental impact assessment directive.
The European Commission, EP and EU Council, representing the EU's 28 national governments, have to consult the committee in policy areas affecting regions and cities.
The committee called "for the EU to put in place tight regulation and control, with limits on exploration and exploitation until a legislative agreement has been reached."
It also called for "local and regional authorities to be given the right to decide whether such activity takes place in their region, especially in sensitive areas or in cases where they feel this could impede their efforts to meet greenhouse gas targets."
The EP also voted Wednesday to start informal negotiations with the council on the common text needed for the proposed draft updates to become law.
Industry group BusinessEurope said Wednesday that the proposed changes to the directive "would cause a decline in infrastructure projects."
It urged the council to drop "unnecessary burdens, for example mandatory environmental impact assessments for shale gas exploration" during the negotiations with the parliament.
