Action brought on 26 April 2018 — European Commission v Portuguese Republic
(Case C-290/18)
Language of the case: Portuguese
Parties
Applicant: European Commission (represented by: P. Costa de Oliveira and C. Hermes, Agents)
Defendant: Portuguese Republic
Form of order sought
The applicant claims that the Court of Justice should:
declare that the Portuguese Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 4(4) of Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, 1 in not designating as special areas of conservation as soon as possible, and within six years at most, seven sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region recognised by Commission Decision 2004/813/EC of 7 December 2004 2 and 54 sites of Community importance for the Mediterranean biogeographical region recognised by Commission Decision 2006/613/EC of 19 July 2006; 3
declare that the Portuguese Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 6(1) of Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, in not adopting the necessary conservation measures which correspond to the ecological requirements of the natural habitat types in Annex I and the species in Annex II present on the seven sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region recognised in Commission Decision 2004/813/EC of 7 December 2004, and on the 54 sites of Community importance for the Mediterranean biogeographical region recognised by Commission Decision 2006/613/EC of 19 July 2006;
order the Portuguese Republic to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
Under Article 4(4) of Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, the Portuguese Republic ought to have designated as special areas of conservation seven sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region, recognised by Commission Decision 2004/813/EC of 7 December 2004, and 54 sites of Community importance for the Mediterranean biogeographical region, recognised by Commission Decision 2006/613/EC of 19 July 2006, within six years at most from the date on which those decisions were adopted. The period referred to expired on 7 December 2010 and 19 July 2012, respectively. However, the Portuguese Republic has still not designated the sites of Community importance as special areas of conservation.
Article 6(1) of Directive 92/43/EEC requires the Member States to establish, for special areas of conservation, the necessary conservation measures involving, if need be, appropriate management plans specifically designed for the sites or integrated into other development plans, and appropriate statutory, administrative or contractual measures which correspond to the ecological requirements of the natural habitat types in Annex I and the species in Annex II present on the sites.
The Commission considers the measures adopted by the Portuguese Republic, in particular, the Natura 2000 Network sectoral plan, as well as other measures referred to by the Portuguese authorities, do not correspond to the ecological requirements of the natural habitat types in Annex I and the species in Annex II of the Directive and cannot, therefore, be considered ‘necessary conservation measures’, within the meaning of Article 6(1) of the Directive.
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1 Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (OJ 1992 L 206, p. 7).
2 Commission Decision 2004/813/EC of 7 December 2004 adopting, pursuant to Council Directive 92/43/EEC, the list of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region (OJ 2004 L 387, p. 1).
3 Commission Decision 2006/613/EC of 19 July 2006 adopting, pursuant to Council Directive 92/43/EEC, the list of sites of Community importance for the Mediterranean biogeographical region (OJ 2006 L 259, p. 1).