Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 24 June 2021 – European Commission v Kingdom of Spain
(Case C-559/19) 1
(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Article 258 TFEU – Doñana protected natural area (Spain) – Directive 2000/60/EC – Framework for Union action in the field of water policy – Article 4(1)(b)(i), Article 5 and Article 11(1)(3)(a), (c) and (e) and Article 11(4) – Deterioration of bodies of groundwater – No further characterisation of the groundwater bodies which have been identified as being at risk of deterioration – Appropriate basic and supplementary measures – Directive 92/43/EEC – Article 6(2) – Deterioration of natural habitats and habitats of species)
Language of the case: Spanish
Parties
Applicant: European Commission (represented initially by C. Hermes, E. Manhaeve and E. Sanfrutos Cano, and subsequently by C. Hermes, E. Manhaeve and M. Jáuregui Gómez, acting as Agents)
Defendant: Kingdom of Spain (represented initially by L. Aguilera Ruiz, and subsequently by J. Rodríguez de la Rúa Puig and M.-J. Ruiz Sánchez, acting as Agents)
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Orders that the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations:
– under Article 5(1) of Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy, as amended by Council Directive 2013/64/EU of 17 December 2013, read in conjunction with point 2.2 of Annex II thereto by failing to take into account the unlawful abstraction of groundwater and the abstraction of water for urban supply in the estimation of groundwater abstraction in the Doñana region (Spain), as part of the more detailed characterisation of the Plan Hidrológico del Guadalquivir 2015-2021 (Guadalquivir Basin Hydrological Plan 2015-2021), approved by the Real Decreto 1/2016 por el que se aprueba la revisión de los Planes Hidrológicos de las demarcaciones hidrográficas del Cantábrico Occidental, Guadalquivir, Ceuta, Melilla, Segura y Júcar, y de la parte española de las demarcaciones hidrográficas del Cantábrico Oriental, Miño-Sil, Duero, Tajo, Guadiana y Ebro (Royal Decree 1/2016 approving the revision of the Hydrographic Plans of the river basin districts of Western Cantabria, Guadalquivir, Ceuta, Melilla, Segura and Júcar, and the Spanish part of the river basin districts of Eastern Cantabria, Miño-Sil, Duero, Tagus, Guadiana and Ebro), of 8 January 2016;
– under Article 11 of Directive 2000/60, read in conjunction with Article 4(1)(c) of that directive, by failing to provide, in the programme of measures drawn up in the context of the Guadalquivir Basin Hydrological Plan 2015-2021, for any measures to prevent disturbance of the types of protected habitats located in the ‘Doñana’ protected area bearing the code ZEPA/LIC ES0000024, as a result of the abstraction of groundwater for the purposes of the tourist area of Matalascañas (Spain), and;
– under Article 6(2) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, by failing to take appropriate measures to prevent significant disturbance of the types of protected habitats, located in the ‘Doñana’ protected area bearing the code ZEPA/LIC ES0000024, the ‘Doñana Norte y Oeste’ protected area bearing the code ZEPA/LIC ES6150009 and the ‘Dehesa del Estero y Montes de Moguer’ protected area bearing the code ZEC ES6150012, caused by the abstraction of groundwater from the Doñana protected natural area since 19 July 2006;
Dismisses the remainder of the action;
Orders the European Commission and the Kingdom of Spain to bear their own costs.
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1 OJ C 348, 14.10.2019.