This paper is a report on the online webinar “The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive: joy or sadness at the 20th birthday” that took place on 15th of June 2021 as part of an elni webinar series. The main speakers were Prof Martin Führ (Professor at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences) and Prof Jerzy Jendrośka (Professor at the Opole University). The report contains a brief summary of a study on the practice of the SEA Directive in Germany presented by Prof Führ, followed by Prof Jendrośka’s presentation on the Directive in the European context and future policy developments. The overall findings from the discussions are focusing on the importance of the scoping and guidance documents, the role and difficulties of the local authorities in the SEA implementation process and a potential conflict with the European jurisprudence.