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1. By 24 October 2023, the Member State or national competent authority shall, where applicable, in collaboration with other authorities concerned, publish an updated manual of procedures for the permit granting process applicable to projects on the Union list to include at least the information specified in point (1) of Annex VI. The manual shall not be legally binding, but it shall refer to or quote relevant legal provisions. The national competent authorities shall, where relevant, cooperate and find synergies with the authorities of neighbouring countries with a view to exchanging good practices and facilitating the permit granting process, in particular for the development of the manual of procedures.

2. Without prejudice to environmental law and any requirements under the Aarhus Convention, the Espoo Convention and relevant Union law, all parties involved in the permit granting process shall follow the principles for public participation set out in point (3) of Annex VI.

3. The project promoter shall, within an indicative period of three months following the start of the permit granting process pursuant to Article 10(3), draw up and submit a concept for public participation to the national competent authority, following the process outlined in the manual referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and in line with the guidelines set out in Annex VI. The national competent authority shall request modifications or approve the concept for public participation within three months of receipt of the concept, taking into consideration any form of public participation and consultation that took place before the start of the permit granting process, to the extent that such public participation and consultation has fulfilled the requirements of this Article. Where the project promoter intends to make significant changes to an approved concept for public participation, it shall inform the national competent authority thereof. In that case the national competent authority may request modifications.

4. Where it is not already required under national law at the same or higher standards, the project promoter or, where required by national law, the national competent authority shall carry out at least one public consultation, before the project promoter submits the final and complete application file to the national competent authority pursuant to Article 10(7). That public consultation shall be without prejudice to any public consultation to be carried out after submission of the request for development consent pursuant to Article 6(2) of Directive 2011/92/EU. The public consultation shall inform the stakeholders referred to in point (3)(a) of Annex VI about the project at an early stage and shall help to identify the most suitable location, trajectory or technology, including, where relevant, in view of adequate climate adaptation considerations for the project, all impacts relevant under Union and national law, and the relevant issues to be addressed in the application file. The public consultation shall comply with the minimum requirements set out in point (5) of Annex VI. Without prejudice to the procedural and transparency rules in Member States, the project promoter shall publish on the website referred to in paragraph 7 of this Article a report explaining how the opinions expressed in the public consultations were taken into account by showing the amendments made in the location, trajectory and design of the project, or by providing reasons why such opinions have not been taken into account.

The project promoter shall prepare a report summarising the results of activities related to the participation of the public prior to the submission of the application file, including those activities that took place before the start of the permit granting process. The project promoter shall submit the reports referred to in the first and second subparagraphs together with the application file to the national competent authority. The comprehensive decision shall take due account of the results of these reports.

5. For cross-border projects involving two or more Member States, the public consultations carried out pursuant to paragraph 4 in each of the Member States concerned shall take place within a period of no more than two months from the date on which the first public consultation started.

6. For projects likely to have a significant transboundary impact in one or more neighbouring Member States, to which Article 7 of Directive 2011/92/EU and the Espoo Convention are applicable, the relevant information shall be made available to the national competent authorities of the neighbouring Member States concerned. The national competent authorities of the neighbouring Member States concerned shall indicate, in the notification process where appropriate, whether they, or any other authority concerned, wishes to participate in the relevant public consultation procedures.

7. The project promoter shall establish and regularly update a dedicated project website with relevant information about the project of common interest, which shall be linked to the Commission website and the transparency platform referred to in Article 23 and which shall meet the requirements specified in point (6) of Annex VI. Commercially sensitive information shall be kept confidential. Project promoters shall also publish relevant information by other appropriate information means open to the public.