Decree No. 5/2017 approving the Regulation of Public Participation in the Environmental Assessment Process.

This Decree approves the Regulation of Public Participation in the Environmental Assessment Process. This Regulation, consisting of 16 articles divided into four Chapters, aims at regulating procedures, forms and conditions for the public participation in the decision-making process during the Environmental and Social Assessment, pursuant to article 14 of Law No. 10/2010. The public participation process is governed, in particular by the following basic principles: a) Principle of the availability and accessibility of information, under which it shall be ensured that the information is made available in a timely manner to the decision-making process and on a medium that can be understood by stakeholders and concerned parties; b) Principle of representation, under which the representation of all segments of stakeholders and concerned parties must be ensured; e) Principle of independence, under which conditions must be created so that the outcome reflects the main worries of the concerned parties and is not dominated by any particular interest out of the process.