Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 27 February 2003 in Case C-415/01: Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Belgium (Failure by a Member State to fulfil its obligations — Conservation of wild birds — Special protection areas)
Date: 2003-04-26
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Belgium, European Commission, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, protected area, protection of animal life, protection of plant life

C 101/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

26.4.2003

General; M.-F. Contet, Principal Administrator, for the Regis-
trar, has given a judgment on 27 February 2003, in which it
has ruled:

1. Article 2(1) of Council Directive 76/207/EEC of 9 February
1976 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment
for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational
training and promotion, and working conditions is to be
interpreted as precluding a requirement that an employee who,
with the consent of her employer, wishes to return to work
before the end of her parental leave must inform her employer
that she is pregnant in the event
that, because of certain
legislative prohibitions, she will be unable to carry out all of her
duties.

2. Article 2(1) of Directive 76/207 is to be interpreted as
precluding an employer from contesting under national law the
consent it gave to the reinstatement of an employee to return
before the end of her parental leave on the grounds that it was
in error as to her being pregnant.

(Agent: C. Pochet): Application for a declaration that, in so far
as the Région flamande (Flemish Region) has failed to transpose
Article 4(1) and (2) of and Annex I to Council Directive 79/
409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds
(OJ 1979 L 103, p. 1), to demarcate special protection areas
within its territory capable of being relied upon as against
third parties, and to adopt the measures necessary to ensure
that the classification of a site as a special protection area
automatically and simultaneously entails the application of
a system of protection and conservation complying with
Community law, the Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil
its obligations under Article 4(1) and (2) in conjunction with
Article 4(4), as partially amended, of Directive 79/409 in
accordance with Article 7 of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of
21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of
wild fauna and flora (OJ 1992 L 206, p. 7), by Article 6(2) to
(4) of the latter directive, the Court (Sixth Chamber), composed
of: J.-P. Puissochet, President of the Chamber, R. Schintgen,
C. Gulmann (Rapporteur), F. Macken and J.N. Cunha Rodri-
gues, Judges; P. Léger, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar,
has given a judgment on 27 February 2003, in which it:

( 1) OJ C 303 of 27.10.2001.

the measures necessary to ensure that

1. Declares that, in so far as the Région flamande has failed to
transpose Article 4(1) and (2) of and Annex I to Council
Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of
wild birds, to demarcate special protection areas within its
territory capable of being relied upon as against third parties,
and to adopt
the
classification of a site as a special protection area automatically
and simultaneously entails the application of a system of
protection and conservation complying with Community law,
the Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil its obligations
under Article 4(1) and (2) of Directive 79/409 and the first
sentence of Article 4(4) thereof, as amended, in accordance with
Article 7 of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992
on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and
flora, by Article 6(2) to (4) of the latter directive;

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Sixth Chamber)

of 27 February 2003

in Case C-415/01: Commission of the European Communi-
ties v Kingdom of Belgium (1)

(Failure by a Member State to fulfil

its obligations —

Conservation of wild birds — Special protection areas)

2. Orders the Kingdom of Belgium to pay the costs.

(2003/C 101/14)

(Language of the case: French)

(1) OJ C 369 of 22.12.2001.

(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
in the European Court Reports)

In Case C-415/01, Commission of the European Communities
(Agents: G. Valero Jordana and J. Adda) v Kingdom of Belgium