WRITTEN QUESTION P-2723/01

by Jean-Louis Bernié (EDD) to the Commission

(26 September 2001)

Subject: Natura 2000 Habitats Directive France rescission by court decision of the forwarding of lists of areas in France consultation of local people and taking account of their opinions

In France, the Council of State rescinded by a judgment of 27 September 1999 (case no 194648) the first notification decisions by means of which the Minister of the Environment had forwarded to the Commission lists relating to 534 areas eligible for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network (decisions of 16 October, 3 December and 9 December 1997).

The Council of State has just, for the second time, penalised the Minister of Regional Development and the Environment, by judgment of 22 June 2001 (case no 219995) because, despite his claims, he was unable to prove that he had genuinely completed the whole of the consultation procedure required by French law before information is forwarded to the European authorities.

France's Minister of the Environment is now therefore compelled to initiate a genuine local consultation procedure before forwarding any further information. But will he genuinely take account of local people's opinions? In France, in most areas which are not currently the subject of any strong regulatory protection of the nature-reserve type, representatives of land-owners, managers and users, without having been officially consulted, have virtually unanimously expressed their opposition to the possibility that their area might be designated eligible for recognition as being of Community importance. France's Minister of the Environment has not taken their adverse opinions into account but has notified the Commission of the areas in question.

Does the implementation of public policies concerning the conservation of the environment and regional development, particularly the establishment of the Natura 2000 network, require direct consultation of local people, particularly land-owners, managers and other users?

In the light of developments at Community level regarding taking account of the opinions of local people (particularly the integration of the Aarhus Convention), to what extent must Member States take account of the opinions of these local people when forwarding notifications concerning areas eligible for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network, especially where representatives of land-owners, managers and users are unanimously opposed to such notification?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(25 October 2001)

According to information sent to the Commission, the Council of State's judgment of 27 September 1999 rescinded the notification of 534 sites proposed to the Commission for the Natura 2000 network by the French authorities, on the grounds that the statutory consultation procedure had not been followed properly. As yet, the Commission has received no official communication from the French authorities regarding the situation.

Regarding the implementation of the Natura 2000 network, Directive 92/43/EEC(1), adopted unanimously by the European Council of Ministers in 1992, lays down protection objectives for natural sites of Community importance. Like all directives, however, it leaves Member States free to choose the way in which they will achieve those objectives. The choice and delimitation of sites and the procedures for consulting local stakeholders fall within the jurisdiction of the national authorities.

Neither the Community nor France has yet ratified the United Nations/ECE Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters. As a result, the obligations laid down by the Convention are not yet applicable.

In any event, the Convention contains no specific requirement regarding public consultation in cases such as this.

(1) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.