The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Thursday ordered Portugal to pay €10 million – and a compulsory daily fine of €41,250 – for failing to implement a ruling on its violation of the ‘Habitats Directive’.
According to Lusa, Portugal has not complied with obligations to designate special conservation zones, “nor has it adopted the necessary conservation measures”.
The compulsory daily fine will stay in place until the CJEU ruling has been ‘completely executed’, albeit it will be reduced ‘according to the progress made by the Member State’.
This suggests that simply paying the money due won’t be enough: Portugal has to comply with the requirements of the Habitats Directive.
This is a ‘wrangle’ that goes back almost six years. In September 2019, the court issued a ruling where it stated that Portugal had not complied with obligations to designate 61 sites of community importance in the Atlantic and Mediterranean biogeographical regions as ‘special conservation zones’ – setting the scene for the country to act.
It didn’t. Or rather it did designate ‘special conservation zones – but it did not specify the types of natural habitats or protected species present in each of them (which is required).
Thus the European Commission returned to the issue in 2024, calling the court to issue a fine, which it has now done.
The sites have not been identified in today’s reports but they will be ‘very useful’ for environmental NGOs etc. intent on ‘saving’ Portugal’s rich biodiversity in the face of so much ‘development’ – often championed by the government.
As the CJEU stresses, these are particularly serious infringements of EU environmental law “since Portugal’s territory is home to a rich biodiversity, including 99 types of habitats and 335 species covered by the Habitats Directive, the challenges for the Union’s common heritage are particularly important there.”
The Habitats Directive established the Natura 2000 network – the world’s largest ecological network – with the aim of ensuring the long-term survival of the most valuable and threatened species and habitats in Europe. The network includes special conservation areas designated by Member States, as well as special protection areas classified under the Birds Directive – yet can find itself by-passed by ‘large scale projects’, often on the basis that the projects are considered to be of ‘national importance’.
Source material: SIC Notícias/ ECO online
