WRITTEN QUESTION E-0917/98

by Heidi Hautala (V) to the Commission

(26 March 1998)

Subject: Speeding up the completion of the Natura 2000 Network

Many Member States of the European Union have still not sent the Commission a complete national list of areas for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network, even though they should have done so by 5 June 1995. Many have not even brought their legislation into line with the Natural Habitats Directive, even though this should have been done by 5 June 1994 (1 January 1995 for Finland, Sweden and Austria). Some have sent the Commission old legislation, adopted before the drafting of the Habitats Directive, which lacks all the crucial provisions of the directive.

Under the Habitats Directive, the Commission must decide on the "Community list" by 5 June 1998. It is already clear that this is going to be impossible. The Member States and the Commission ought now to do all they can to ensure that the Natura 2000 network approved at Community level can live up to its name and be in force by the year 2000.

In deciding on 19 June 1997 on the Commission's communication, the Council noted the need to increase the effectiveness of the implementation and application of Community legislation in the environmental field. In its resolution on that communication (paragraph 17) the European Parliament called for greater regularity of automatic initiation of legal proceedings in cases where Member States have failed to comply with all provisions of a directive, obviating the need for political decisions by the Commission(1). This is particularly justified in the case of the natural habitats directive, given that the limits set by the directive have already been significantly exceeded.

What measures does the Commission propose to take to enable it to decide, in accordance with the responsibilities conferred upon it by Community legislation, on the Community Natura 2000 list as soon as possible, and at any rate before the year 2000?

What measures does the Commission propose to take to ensure that each Member State has brought into force legislation in accordance with the natural habitats directive by the date on which the Community list for that Member State is adopted?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(29 May 1998)

The Commission fully shares the Honourable Member's concern that the Natura 2000 network be implemented soon. It has repeatedly drawn the Member States' attention to their obligations as to transposing Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora(2) and submitting a national list of proposed sites.

The Commission is currently pursuing legal action against four Member States for non-transposition of the Directive: the Court of Justice has already delivered judgments against Greece and Germany, a court application was recently decided against France and a reasoned opinion has been delivered to Finland for non-transposition by the province of Aland.

In reaction to repeated delays, the Commission also recently decided court applications against seven Member States (Denmark, Germany, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Finland) for missing or incomplete national lists for the Natura 2000 network.

The Commission would nonetheless point to the substantial progress achieved lately in a number of Member States, e.g. the fact that sites (including marine ones) amounting to 8 % of the European territory of the Community have been proposed already under the Habitats Directive.

To avoid further delay in setting up the Natura 2000 network, the Commission plans to adopt Community lists of sites by biogeographical region. The list for the Macaronesian region could be decided as early as this year.

(1) Resolution on a communication from the Commission on implementing Community environmental law (A-0109/97), OJ C 167, 2.6.1997, p.92.

(2) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.