* Admissibility date reflects the date the case was officially registered. All other dates pertain to the date in which a stage was completed.
Case Description
In December 2023, the EIB Complaints Mechanism (EIB-CM) registered a complaint regarding the Keflavik Airport Extension project, an EIB co-financed operation. The complaint alleged that the 2021 construction of the basement of the future East wing of the Keflavik Airport (dedicated to house the baggage-screening) was initiated without a notification having been sent to the Icelandic National Planning Agency. In addition, the complainant alleged that it was done without an environmental impact assessment (EIA) having been completed, as required by the National Act on Environmental Impact Assessment.
The EIB-CM performed an assessment of the complaint and gathered information in relation to the project. During the assessment process, the EIB-CM established that, in November 2021, the promoter was granted a construction permit to start the construction. The EIB-CM was also informed of the completion of the EIA procedure and the issuance of the EIA decision in October 2023. In line with Section 4.3.2 of the EIB-CM Policy, actions or decisions of national authorities fall outside the scope of the EIB-CM mandate.
As per national law, the application for an EIA decision on the components of an operation should take place before the application for the respective construction permit. In this case, the promoter applied for an EIA decision covering the associated facilities of the operation before applying for the relevant construction permit. While it appears that the construction started prior to the completion of the EIA, the EIB-CM takes note that the issuance of the 2023 EIA decision remedied the above situation. Therefore, the EIB-CM sees no merit in further investigating the possible Bank’s maladministration in this case.