Action brought on 16 July 2021 — European Commission v Ireland

(Case C-444/21)

(2021/C 382/26)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: European Commission (represented by: C. Hermes and M. Noll-Ehlers, Agents)

Defendant: Ireland

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— declare that Ireland has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 4(4) and Article 6(1) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (1) (the Directive) by — failing to designate, as soon as possible and within six years at most, as special areas of conservation (SAC) 217 sites out of the 423 sites of Community interest in the Atlantic biogeographical region on its territory that had been listed by Commission Decision 2004/813/EC of 7 December 2004 (2), as updated by Commission Decision 2008/23/EC of 12 November 2007 (3) and Commission Decision 2009/96/EC of 12 December 2008 (4); — failing to set site-specific detailed conservation objectives for 140 sites out of the 423 sites listed in the aforementioned Commission Decisions; and — failing to establish the necessary conservation measures which correspond to the ecological requirements of the natural habitat types in Annex I and the species in Annex II of the Directive for any of the 423 sites listed in the aforementioned Commission Decisions.

— order Ireland to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The Commission considers that Ireland failed to set up and manage its Natura 2000 network in line with the legal requirements set out by the Directive.

First, Ireland has failed to fulfil its obligations under Art. 4(4) of the Directive by not designating as SAC as soon as possible and within a maximum period of six years all the 423 sites listed in the aforementioned Commission Decisions. This omission concerned 217 sites by the end of the period laid down in the additional reasoned opinion.

Secondly, Ireland has failed to comply with Art. 4(4) of the Directive by not setting site-specific conservation objectives for every of the 423 sites in question. This omission concerned 140 sites by the end of the period laid down in the additional reasoned opinion.

Thirdly, Ireland has failed to establish the necessary conservation measures that correspond to the ecological requirements of the natural habitat types in Annex I and the species in Annex II pursuant to Art. 6(1) of the Directive for the 423 sites covered by this infringement. Ireland’s practice with regard to conservation measures has led to a situation in which none of the 423 sites covered by this infringement had by the end of the period laid down in the additional reasoned opinion conservation measures corresponding to the legal requirements of Art. 6(1) of the Directive. Many sites had no conservation measures at all. Other sites had conservation measures for only a subset of the relevant Annex I natural habitat types and Annex II species significantly present in the sites. Furthermore, a large number of sites lacked conservation measures based on site-specific clearly defined conservation objectives. In addition, Ireland also generally and persistently failed to comply with Art. 6(1) of the Directive by establishing conservation measures that are not sufficiently precise and detailed and fail to address all significant pressures and threats.

(1) OJ 1992 L 206, p. 7.

(2) 2004/813/EC: Commission Decision 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) 2008/23/EC: Commission Decision of 12 November 2007 adopting, pursuant to Council Directive 92/43/EEC, a first updated list of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region (OJ 2008 L 12, p. 1).

(4) 2009/96/EC: Commission Decision of 12 December 2008 adopting, pursuant to Council Directive 92/43/EEC, a second updated list of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region (OJ 2009 L 43, p. 466).