Requirements of a comprehensive strategic environmental assessment system

There is an increasing interest in the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of policies, plans and programmes. A number of principles for SEA systems has been advanced and SEA practice has developed in several countries. There is, however, no consensus on the requirements of a comprehensive SEA system. This article advances 15, partially very ambitious, requirements against which existing or proposed SEA systems can be evaluated. They relate to the legal basis and enforcement of the SEA system; to coverage and screening; to scoping; to assessment and the preparation of the SEA report; to review and decision-making, and to monitoring and auditing. Furthermore, the analysis that forms the basis for advancing the 15 requirements includes valuable recommendations for good SEA practice. No matter whether the latter are (already) reflected by national SEA regulations, they should be considered by practitioners.