CELEX: 62004CJ0006
Language: en
Date: 2005-10-20
Title: Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 20 October 2005. # Commission of the European Communities v United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. # Failure of a Member State to fufil obligations - Directive 92/43/EEC - Conservation of natural habitats - Wild fauna and flora. # Case C-6/04.

Case C-6/04
      Commission of the European Communities
      v
      United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
      (Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations –– Directive 92/43/EEC –– Conservation of natural habitats –– Wild fauna and flora)
      Opinion of Advocate General Kokott delivered on 9 June 2005 
      Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber), 20 October 2005 
      Summary of the Judgment
      1.     Environment – Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora – Directive 92/43 – Transposition without legislative
            action – Limits – Management of a common heritage – Need for faithful transposition by the Member States 
      (Art. 249, para. 3, EC; Council Directive 92/43, Arts 11, 12(4) and 14(2))
      2.     Environment – Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora – Directive 92/43 – Special areas of conservation
            – Obligation to avoid the deterioration of natural habitats and the habitats of species – Scope 
      (Council Directive 92/43, Art. 6(2))
      3.     Environment – Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora – Directive 92/43 – Special areas of conservation
            – Obligations of the Member States – Assessment of a project’s implications for a site – Coming into being of the obligation
            to carry out an assessment
      (Council Directive 92/43, Art. 6(3))
      4.     Environment – Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora – Directive 92/43 – Protection of species – Derogations
            – Restrictive interpretation – Derogations incompatible with the directive – Breach both of the measures for the protection
            of species set out in Articles 12 and 13 of the directive and of the derogations laid down in Article 16
      (Council Directive 92/43, Arts 12, 13 and 16)
      1.     While the transposition of a directive into domestic law does not necessarily require that the content of the directive be
         incorporated formally and verbatim in express, specific legislation and, depending on its content, a general legal context
         may be adequate for the purpose, that is on condition that that context does indeed guarantee the full application of the
         directive in a sufficiently clear and precise manner. In that regard, it is important in each individual case to determine
         the nature of the provision, laid down in a directive, to which the action for infringement relates, in order to gauge the
         extent of the obligation to transpose imposed on the Member States.
      
      However, faithful transposition becomes particularly important where management of the common heritage is entrusted to the
         Member States in their respective territories. It follows that, in the context of Directive 92/43 on the conservation of natural
         habitats and of wild fauna and flora, which lays down complex and technical rules in the field of environmental law, the Member
         States are under a particular duty to ensure that their legislation intended to transpose that directive is clear and precise,
         including with regard to the fundamental surveillance and monitoring obligations, such as those imposed on national authorities
         by Articles 11, 12(4) and 14(2) of the directive.
      
      (see paras 21-22, 25-26)
      2.     In implementing Article 6(2) of Directive 92/43 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, which
         obliges the Member States to avoid, in special areas of conservation, the deterioration of natural habitats and the habitats
         of species, it may be necessary to adopt both measures intended to avoid external man-caused impairment and disturbance and
         measures to prevent natural developments that may cause the conservation status of species and habitats in those areas to
         deteriorate.
      
      (see paras 33-34)
      3.     Article 6(3) of Directive 92/43 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora makes the requirement
         for an appropriate assessment of the implications of a plan or project that is not directly connected with or necessary to
         the management of a site in a special area of conservation conditional on there being a probability or a risk that it will
         have a significant effect on the site concerned. In the light, in particular, of the precautionary principle, such a risk
         exists if it cannot be excluded on the basis of objective information that the plan or project will have a significant effect
         on the site concerned.
      
      (see para. 54)
      4.     Article 16 of Directive 92/43 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, which defines in a precise
         manner the circumstances in which Member States may derogate from the provisions relating to the protection of species laid
         down in Articles 12, 13, 14 and 15(a) and (b) thereof, must be interpreted restrictively. Furthermore, Articles 12, 13 and
         16 of the directive form a coherent body of provisions intended to protect the populations of the species concerned, so that
         any derogation incompatible with the directive would infringe both the prohibitions set out in Articles 12 and 13 and the
         rule that derogations may be granted in accordance with Article 16.
      
      (see paras 111-112)
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Second Chamber)
      20 October 2005 (*)
      
      (Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Directive 92/43/EEC – Conservation of natural habitats – Wild fauna and flora)
      In Case C-6/04,
      ACTION under Article 226 EC for failure to fulfil obligations, brought on 9 January 2004,
      Commission of the European Communities, represented by M. van Beek and L. Flynn, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg,
      
      applicant,
      v
      United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,  represented by C. Jackson, acting as Agent, and K. Smith, Barrister,
      
      defendant,
      THE COURT (Second Chamber),
      composed of C.W.A. Timmermans, President of the Chamber, R. Schintgen, R. Silva de Lapuerta, G. Arestis and J. Klučka (Rapporteur),
         Judges,
      
      Advocate General: J. Kokott,
      Registrar: H. von Holstein, Deputy Registrar,
      having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 26 May 2005,
      after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 9 June 2005,
      gives the following
      Judgment
      1       By its action, the Commission of the European Communities requests the Court to declare that, by failing to transpose correctly
         the requirements 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, ‘the Habitats Directive’), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has failed
         to fulfil its obligations under that directive.
      
       Legal context
       Community legislation
      2       According to Article 2(1) of the Habitats Directive, the aim of the directive is to contribute towards ensuring biodiversity
         through the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora in the European territory of the Member States to
         which the EC Treaty applies.
      
      3       In accordance with Article 3(1) of the Habitats Directive, the Member States designate special areas of conservation (‘SACs’)
         with a view to maintaining or restoring, at a favourable conservation status, natural habitat types and habitats of species
         of Community interest. Those areas are to form part of a European ecological network under the title Natura 2000.
      
      4       Article 6 of the Habitats Directive relates to the measures necessary in order to protect SACs. Surveillance of the conservation
         status of natural habitats and species of Community interest is governed by Article 11 of the directive. Articles 12 and 13
         concern measures for protecting animal and plant species. Article 14 relates to the taking of specimens of species of wild
         fauna and flora. Article 15 prohibits certain indiscriminate means of capture or killing of some species of wild fauna. Article
         16 sets out the circumstances in which the Member States may derogate, for specified purposes, from certain provisions of
         the directive.
      
      5       Under Article 23(1) of the Habitats Directive, the Member States were to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative
         provisions necessary to comply with the directive within two years of its notification and were forthwith to inform the Commission
         thereof. The directive was notified to the Member States on 10 June 1992.
      
       National legislation
      6       The principal instruments transposing the Habitats Directive in the United Kingdom that are relevant in the present case are
         the following:
      
      –       the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (‘the 1994 Regulations’), which apply in England, Wales and Scotland;
      –       the Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995 (‘the 1995 Regulations’), which apply in Northern
         Ireland;
      
      –       the Nature Protection Ordinance 1991 as amended by the Nature Protection Ordinance (Amendment) Regulations 1995 (‘the 1991
         Ordinance’), which applies in Gibraltar;
      
      –       the Conservation of Seals Act 1970 (‘the Conservation of Seals Act’).
      7       Regulation 3(2) of the 1994 Regulations provides that the Secretary of State, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
         and the nature conservation bodies are to exercise their functions under the enactments relating to nature conservation so
         as to secure compliance with the requirements of the Habitats Directive.
      
      8       Regulation 3(4) of the 1994 Regulations provides that, without prejudice to the provision referred to in the preceding paragraph,
         every competent authority in the exercise of any of its functions is to have regard to the requirements of the Habitats Directive
         so far as they may be affected by the exercise of those functions.
      
       Pre-litigation procedure
      9       On 6 November 2000, the Commission sent to the United Kingdom a letter of formal notice in which it contended that certain
         provisions of the Habitats Directive had not been correctly transposed into that Member State’s domestic law.
      
      10     The United Kingdom authorities replied to the letter of formal notice by letter of 27 February 2001. They accepted that on
         two points, relating to offshore oil and gas activities and to the extension of the application of the Habitats Directive
         beyond territorial waters, the letter of formal notice was well founded, but contested most of the other complaints raised
         in it.
      
      11     Since it was not persuaded by the explanations provided by the United Kingdom, on 18 July 2001 the Commission issued a reasoned
         opinion in which it repeated its complaints and called on the United Kingdom to take the necessary measures to comply with
         the reasoned opinion within two months of its receipt.
      
      12     By letter of 27 November 2001 (‘the letter of 27 November 2001’) the United Kingdom informed the Commission, in response to
         the reasoned opinion, of its intention to amend its legislation in order to establish greater legal certainty and clarity
         on a number of points at issue in the reasoned opinion, while maintaining that in general the measures in force complied with
         the Habitats Directive.
      
      13     Finally, by letter of 2 December 2003, the United Kingdom authorities informed the Commission of progress made in the process
         of implementing changes in national legislation to transpose the Habitats Directive better.
      
      14     It was in those circumstances that the Commission decided to bring the present action.
       The action
       The method of transposing the Habitats Directive
      Arguments of the parties
      15     The Commission alleges that the United Kingdom has not transposed the Habitats Directive appropriately into its legal order.
         In particular, the Commission submits that the United Kingdom has wrongly adopted a general clause for the purpose of filling
         any gaps in the specific provisions designed to transpose it.
      
      16     The United Kingdom maintains that it has correctly transposed the Habitats Directive by adopting, for its transposition, legislation
         which contains not only specific requirements but also general duties and administrative procedures. Those general duties
         must be read together with the specific requirements of that legislation, which they supplement, thereby ensuring that the
         directive is in fact implemented appropriately.
      
      17     The United Kingdom authorities rely in particular on regulation 3(2) and (4) of the 1994 Regulations, the equivalent provisions
         of which are, for Northern Ireland, regulation 3(2) and (4) of the 1995 Regulations and, for Gibraltar, section 17A of the
         1991 Ordinance. Those provisions require ministers, nature conservation bodies and all competent public authorities to exercise
         their functions so as to secure compliance with the requirements of the Habitats Directive.
      
      18     The Commission submits, on the other hand, that the general clauses pleaded by the United Kingdom are not sufficiently precise
         to ensure transposition into national law of the specific obligations imposed by the directive.
      
      19     In order to determine the scope of their rights and obligations, individuals must refer to the Habitats Directive each time,
         a situation which does not meet the requirements of legal certainty or the conditions with regard to specificity, precision
         and clarity required under the settled case-law of the Court.
      
      20     The Commission adds that if the Court were to follow the logic of the United Kingdom’s reasoning, the whole directive could
         presumably have been transposed by such a general clause. This would be at odds with the requirement of specificity repeatedly
         noted in the case-law on the transposition of directives.
      
      Findings of the Court
      21     Under the third paragraph of Article 249 EC, a directive is binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State
         to which it is addressed, but leaves to the national authorities the choice of form and methods for implementing the directive
         in question in domestic law. However, in accordance with settled case-law, while the transposition of a directive into domestic
         law does not necessarily require that the content of the directive be incorporated formally and verbatim in express, specific
         legislation and, depending on its content, a general legal context may be adequate for the purpose, that is on condition that
         that context does indeed guarantee the full application of the directive in a sufficiently clear and precise manner (see,
         inter alia, Case 363/85 Commission v Italy [1987] ECR 1733, paragraph 7, Case C-361/88 Commission v Germany [1991] ECR I‑2567, paragraph 15, and Case C-58/02 Commission v Spain [2004] ECR I‑621, paragraph 26).
      
      22     In that regard, it is important in each individual case to determine the nature of the provision, laid down in a directive,
         to which the action for infringement relates, in order to gauge the extent of the obligation to transpose imposed on the Member
         States (see Case C-233/00 Commission v France [2003] ECR I‑6625, paragraph 77).
      
      23     The United Kingdom’s argument that the most appropriate way of implementing the Habitats Directive is to confer specific powers
         on nature conservation bodies and to impose on them the general duty to exercise their functions so as to secure compliance
         with the requirements of that directive cannot be upheld.
      
      24     First, it is to be remembered that the existence of national rules may render transposition by specific legislative or regulatory
         measures superfluous only if those rules actually ensure the full application of the directive in question by the national
         authorities.
      
      25     Second, it is apparent from the 4th and 11th recitals in the preamble to the Habitats Directive that threatened habitats and
         species form part of the European Community’s natural heritage and that the threats to them are often of a transboundary nature,
         so that the adoption of conservation measures is a common responsibility of all Member States. Consequently, as the Advocate
         General has observed in point 11 of her Opinion, faithful transposition becomes particularly important in an instance such
         as the present one, where management of the common heritage is entrusted to the Member States in their respective territories
         (see by analogy, in respect of Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds (OJ 1979 L 103,
         p. 1), Case 262/85 Commission v Italy [1987] ECR 3073, paragraph 39, and Case C-38/99 Commission v France [2000] ECR I-10941, paragraph 53).
      
      26     It follows that, in the context of the Habitats Directive, which lays down complex and technical rules in the field of environmental
         law, the Member States are under a particular duty to ensure that their legislation intended to transpose that directive is
         clear and precise, including with regard to the fundamental surveillance and monitoring obligations, such as those imposed
         on national authorities by Articles 11, 12(4) and 14(2) of the directive.
      
      27     However, it is apparent on examination of the legislation relied upon by the United Kingdom that it is so general that it
         does not give effect to the Habitats Directive with sufficient precision and clarity to satisfy fully the demands of legal
         certainty (see, by analogy, Case 291/84 Commission v Netherlands [1987] ECR 3483, paragraph 15) and that it also does not establish a precise legal framework in the area concerned, such
         as to ensure the full and complete application of the directive and allow harmonised and effective implementation of the rules
         which it lays down (see, by analogy, the judgment of 10 March 2005 in Case C-531/03 Commission v Germany, not published in the ECR, paragraph 19).
      
      28     It follows that the general duties laid down by the United Kingdom legislation cannot ensure that the provisions of the Habitats
         Directive referred to in the Commission’s application are transposed satisfactorily and are not capable of filling any gaps
         in the specific provisions intended to achieve such transposition. Consequently, there remains no need to consider the United
         Kingdom’s arguments based on the general duties contained in that legislation when analysing the specific complaints relied
         upon by the Commission.
      
       The complaints raised by the Commission
       The complaint alleging incomplete transposition of Article 6(2) of the Habitats Directive
      29     In the light of information that the United Kingdom provided, the Commission, in its reply and at the hearing, abandoned its
         complaint alleging breach of Article 6(2) of the Habitats Directive with regard to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland,
         while maintaining it with regard to Gibraltar.
      
      30     The Commission submits that, by merely protecting designated sites from any operation with potential to cause disturbance
         without also ensuring that deterioration due to neglect or inactivity is avoided, the United Kingdom has failed to implement
         Article 6(2) of the directive fully in Gibraltar.
      
      31     The United Kingdom, without genuinely contesting the Commission’s line of argument, contends that only non-natural deterioration
         is to be avoided.
      
      32     In addition, it argues that the 1991 Ordinance set in place a complete and stringent enforcement regime. That regime adequately
         implements the Habitats Directive, particularly when it is read in conjunction with the general rule laid down in section
         17A of the ordinance.
      
      33     As to those submissions, it should first be noted that Article 6(2) of the Habitats Directive obliges the Member States to
         avoid the deterioration of natural habitats and the habitats of species.
      
      34     As the Advocate General has observed in point 19 of her Opinion, it is clear that, in implementing Article 6(2) of the Habitats
         Directive, it may be necessary to adopt both measures intended to avoid external man-caused impairment and disturbance and
         measures to prevent natural developments that may cause the conservation status of species and habitats in SACs to deteriorate.
      
      35     Second, at the end of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion, Article 6(2) of the Habitats Directive had not been formally
         reproduced in the legislation applicable in Gibraltar. Section 17G of the 1991 Ordinance, allowing the competent authorities
         to enter into site management agreements with the owners or occupiers of sites, appears to be the only provision applicable
         in Gibraltar for avoiding any deterioration.
      
      36     It is clear that this provision confers only a non-mandatory power on those authorities and that it is not such as to avoid
         deterioration, contrary to the requirements of Article 6(2) of the Habitats Directive.
      
      37     Accordingly, inasmuch as domestic law contains no express provision obliging the competent authorities to avoid the deterioration
         of natural habitats and the habitats of species, it involves an element of legal uncertainty as to the obligations with which
         those authorities must comply.
      
      38     It follows from the foregoing that, in any event, Article 6(2) of the Habitats Directive has not been transposed clearly,
         precisely and completely in Gibraltar.
      
      39     In those circumstances, the complaint alleging incomplete transposition of Article 6(2) of the Habitats Directive must be
         held to be well founded as regards Gibraltar.
      
       The complaint alleging incomplete transposition of Article 6(3) and (4) of the Habitats Directive
      40     The Commission submits that United Kingdom legislation does not properly transpose these provisions in three specific areas:
         water abstraction plans and projects, land use plans and, in respect of Gibraltar, the review of existing planning rights.
         
      
      –       Water abstraction plans and projects
      41     In the Commission’s submission, no provision of domestic law requires water abstraction licences granted under Chapter II
         of Part II of the Water Resources Act 1991 to comply with the obligation, imposed by Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive,
         to take account of the significant effects which water abstraction may have on sites forming part of a SAC. No such provisions
         exist in Northern Ireland or Gibraltar either. Thus, water abstraction activities, which may have a significant adverse effect
         on a SAC, are not fully covered or correctly controlled by the United Kingdom’s implementing legislation.
      
      42     The Commission adds that in its letter of 27 November 2001 the United Kingdom had indicated that the relevant provisions of
         the 1994 Regulations would be amended in order to clarify the rules relating to water abstraction activities.
      
      43     The United Kingdom contends, on the other hand, that it has set up, in conjunction with the general clauses, a system which
         enables potentially damaging operations to be determined in advance for each site.
      
      44     As to those submissions, Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive provides that any plan or project not directly connected with
         or necessary to the management of a site but likely to have a significant effect thereon, either individually or in combination
         with other plans or projects, must be subject to appropriate assessment of its implications for the site in view of the site’s
         conservation objectives. 
      
      45     In the present case, it is not disputed that, at the end of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion, no legal provision
         expressly required water abstraction plans and projects to be subject to such an assessment.
      
      46     Furthermore, the system established by the United Kingdom legislation, inasmuch as it essentially provides that all water
         abstraction plans and projects which fall within the conditions laid down in Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive are deemed
         in advance to be potentially damaging for the site concerned, does not appear to be capable of ensuring compliance with the
         requirements of that provision.
      
      47     As the Advocate General has observed in point 33 of her Opinion, while this kind of advance assessment of potential risks
         can be based on concrete facts with regard to the site, that is not the case with regard to the projects themselves, contrary
         to the requirements of Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive, under which an appropriate assessment of the project’s implications
         for the site in question should be carried out. Consequently, in merely defining potentially damaging operations for each
         site concerned, the risk is run that certain projects which on the basis of their specific characteristics are likely to have
         an effect on the site are not covered.
      
      48     Nor is it possible to uphold the United Kingdom’s argument that, as regards Scotland, the Water Environment and Water Services
         Act 2003 has laid down, as part of the transposition of Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
         of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (OJ 2000 L 327, p. 1), a framework
         for a comprehensive new system of water abstraction which introduces controls consistent with Article 6(2) and (3) of the
         Habitats Directive.
      
      49     It is settled case-law that the question whether a Member State has failed to fulfil its obligations must be determined by
         reference to the situation obtaining in the Member State at the end of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion and that
         the Court cannot take account of any subsequent changes (see, inter alia, Case C‑103/00 Commission v Greece [2002] ECR I‑1147, paragraph 23, and Case C‑323/01 Commission v Italy [2002] ECR I‑4711, paragraph 8).
      
      50     Having regard to the foregoing, it must be found that the United Kingdom has not transposed Article 6(3) and (4) of the Habitats
         Directive correctly as regards water abstraction plans and projects.
      
      –       Land use plans
      51     The Commission submits that United Kingdom legislation does not clearly require land use plans to be subject to appropriate
         assessment of their implications for SACs in accordance with Article 6(3) and (4) of the Habitats Directive.
      
      52     According to the Commission, although land use plans do not as such authorise development and planning permission must be
         obtained for development projects in the normal manner, they have great influence on development decisions. Therefore land
         use plans must also be subject to appropriate assessment of their implications for the site concerned.
      
      53     The United Kingdom accepts that land use plans can be considered to be ‘plans and projects’ for the purposes of Article 6(3)
         of the Habitats Directive, but it disputes that they can have a significant effect on sites protected pursuant to the directive.
         It submits that they do not in themselves authorise a particular programme to be carried out and that, consequently, only
         a subsequent consent can adversely affect such sites. It is therefore sufficient to make just that consent subject to the
         procedure governing plans and projects.
      
      54     As to those submissions, the Court has already held that Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive makes the requirement for
         an appropriate assessment of the implications of a plan or project conditional on there being a probability or a risk that
         it will have a significant effect on the site concerned. In the light, in particular, of the precautionary principle, such
         a risk exists if it cannot be excluded on the basis of objective information that the plan or project will have a significant
         effect on the site concerned (see, to this effect, Case C-127/02 Waddenvereniging and Vogelbeschermingsvereniging [2004] ECR I-7405, paragraphs 43 and 44).
      
      55     As the Commission has rightly pointed out, section 54A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which requires applications
         for planning permission to be determined in the light of the relevant land use plans, necessarily means that those plans may
         have considerable influence on development decisions and, as a result, on the sites concerned.
      
      56     It thus follows from the foregoing that, as a result of the failure to make land use plans subject to appropriate assessment
         of their implications for SACs, Article 6(3) and (4) of the Habitats Directive has not been transposed sufficiently clearly
         and precisely into United Kingdom law and, therefore, the action brought by the Commission must be held well founded in this
         regard.
      
      –       Review of existing planning rights in Gibraltar
      57     The Commission submits that, so far as concerns Gibraltar, the competent authorities do not comply with the requirements of
         Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive in that they are not obliged to review whether existing planning permits affect sites
         protected under the directive.
      
      58     As the Advocate General rightly observes in point 55 of her Opinion, while it is true that such an obligation to carry out
         a subsequent review may be based on Article 6(2) of the Habitats Directive, the fact remains that Article 6(3) of the directive
         contains no provision obliging the Member States to carry out a review of that kind.
      
      59     On the contrary, it follows from the very wording of the latter provision that the procedure laid down must be applied before a
         Member State agrees to the carrying out of plans or projects likely to affect the site concerned.
      
      60     It follows that this part of the complaint alleging incomplete transposition of Article 6(3) and (4) of the Habitats Directive
         cannot be upheld.
      
       The complaint alleging failure to transpose Articles 11 and 14(2) of the Habitats Directive
      61     The Commission alleges that the United Kingdom has failed to transpose into domestic law the surveillance obligations set
         out in these provisions. It maintains that, until those obligations have been clearly assigned to the competent authorities,
         it will be unable to establish whether the required surveillance is actually being carried out.
      
      62     In support of this complaint, the Commission relies on the letter of 27 November 2001, in which the United Kingdom stated,
         first, that a surveillance obligation was implicitly imposed on the competent authorities and, secondly, that the 1994 Regulations,
         the 1995 Regulations and the 1991 Ordinance would be amended to provide greater legal certainty through provisions more specific
         than those of that legislation.
      
      63     In the United Kingdom’s submission, Articles 11 and 14(2) of the Habitats Directive simply provide that the Member States
         are to undertake surveillance, without imposing any specific requirement as to how it is to take place, or as to how such
         surveillance is to be provided for in national law. It further contends that the list of surveillance activities carried out
         in accordance with domestic legislation demonstrates that surveillance is being carried out effectively in the United Kingdom
         in accordance with Articles 11 and 14(2) of the directive.
      
      64     The Commission replies that it never asserted that no surveillance of the conservation status of natural habitats and species
         was undertaken in the United Kingdom. It contends, on the other hand, that the surveillance obligation is neither clearly
         implemented in that Member State nor clearly assigned to a particular authority of the latter.
      
      65     With regard to those submissions, first, as has already been stated in paragraph 26 of this judgment, the surveillance obligation
         is fundamental to the effectiveness of the Habitats Directive and it must be transposed in a detailed, clear and precise manner.
      
      66     However, at the end of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion, no provision of domestic law imposed an obligation on
         the national authorities requiring the surveillance of natural habitats and species.
      
      67     Second, the United Kingdom’s argument that the list of surveillance activities carried out proves that surveillance is undertaken
         effectively cannot be upheld. As the Court has already held, the fact, should it be established, that a practice is in conformity
         with the requirements of a directive which concern protection cannot constitute a reason for not transposing that directive
         into the domestic law of the Member State concerned (see, to this effect, Case C-361/88 Commission v Germany, cited above, paragraph 24).
      
      68     Accordingly, inasmuch as it is common ground that United Kingdom domestic law does not contain any statutory duty requiring
         the national authorities to undertake surveillance of the conservation status of natural habitats and species, that domestic
         law involves an element of legal uncertainty. Hence, it is not guaranteed that surveillance of their conservation status is
         undertaken systematically and on a permanent basis.
      
      69     It follows that Articles 11 and 14(2) of the Habitats Directive have not been transposed completely, clearly and precisely
         in the United Kingdom.
      
      70     Consequently, the complaint alleging failure to transpose Articles 11 and 14(2) of the Habitats Directive must be held to
         be well founded.
      
       The complaint alleging incorrect transposition of Article 12(1)(d) of the Habitats Directive
      71     The Commission submits that the United Kingdom has not transposed correctly the obligation to take the requisite measures
         to establish a system of strict protection for certain animal species by prohibiting deterioration or destruction of their
         breeding sites or resting places. National legislation uses the verb ‘to damage’ instead of the word ‘deterioration’ used
         in Article 12(1)(d) of the Habitats Directive.
      
      72     First, in the Commission’s submission the use of the verb ‘to damage’ means that the effects of deterioration resulting from
         neglect or inactivity on the part of the competent authorities are not covered. However, in its reply, the Commission went
         back on this argument, accepting that the provision does not require breeding sites and resting places of the species concerned
         to be protected from deterioration due to neglect or inactivity on the part of the competent authorities. Accordingly, there
         is no longer any need to rule on this point.
      
      73     Second, the Commission contends that by creating offences only for acts having the effect of harming or damaging the breeding
         sites or resting places of the species in question, without prohibiting their deterioration, the measures transposing the
         Habitats Directive introduce a condition, not provided for in Article 12(1)(d) thereof, linked to whether the harmful act
         is intentional.
      
      74     The United Kingdom does not dispute that Article 12(1)(d) of the Habitats Directive requires activities which would lead to
         the deterioration or destruction of the sites concerned to be prohibited. On the other hand, it contests the Commission’s
         interpretation of the national legislation, according to which transposition of the directive in the United Kingdom, with
         the exception of Gibraltar, is limited to deliberate or intentional acts.
      
      75     As to those submissions, it is settled case-law that in an action for failure to fulfil obligations brought under Article
         226 EC it is for the Commission to prove the allegation that the obligation has not been fulfilled and it may not rely on
         any presumption (see, inter alia, Case 96/81 Commission v Netherlands [1982] ECR 1791, paragraph 6, and Case C-194/01 Commission v Austria [2004] ECR I-4579, paragraph 34).
      
      76     Accordingly, inasmuch as the United Kingdom contends that its domestic law in force is consistent with Article 12(1)(d) of
         the Habitats Directive, it is for the Commission, in order to prove that that provision has not been transposed completely,
         to put before the Court the evidence or arguments necessary in order for it to determine that there has been such a failure
         to fulfil obligations. 
      
      77     However, it does not appear from the documents before the Court that the Commission has put forward evidence or arguments
         capable of proving that the transposition of that provision is limited to deliberate or intentional acts. On the contrary,
         it appears that the criminal offence provided for by United Kingdom domestic law, which punishes acts consisting in damaging
         or destroying a site, is a strict liability offence not in any way requiring the damage or destruction to be deliberate or
         intentional. 
      
      78     In those circumstances, since the Commission has not proved that the United Kingdom, other than in respect of Gibraltar, has
         failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 12(1)(d) of the Habitats Directive, this part of the complaint cannot be upheld.
      
      79     As regards Gibraltar, suffice it to state that the United Kingdom acknowledges that, by prohibiting only the deliberate damaging
         or destruction of breeding sites or resting places of the species concerned, the legislation applicable in Gibraltar does
         not satisfy the requirements of Article 12(1)(d). Accordingly this part of the complaint must be held to be well founded.
      
      80     Third, the Commission states that the United Kingdom legislation as currently drafted would protect breeding sites and resting
         places only against activities having a direct effect on them, and does not take account of indirect impairment in accordance
         with the requirements of Article 12(1)(d) of the Habitats Directive.
      
      81     This argument cannot be upheld. The Commission has adduced no evidence capable of proving that the United Kingdom has failed
         to fulfil its obligations in this regard.
      
      82     It follows from the foregoing that the complaint alleging that Article 12(1)(d) of the Habitats Directive has been transposed
         incorrectly must be partially upheld.
      
       The complaint alleging incomplete transposition of Articles 12(2) and 13(1) of the Habitats Directive
      83     The Commission submits that the national measures intended to transpose the prohibition on the keeping, transport, sale or
         exchange of specimens of animal and plant species fail to comply with the temporal limitation laid down in those articles.
      
      84     It need only be stated that the United Kingdom acknowledged, during the written procedure and at the hearing, that the derogations
         in force in its domestic law are broader than those envisaged by the Habitats Directive and that, consequently, the provisions
         in question have not been correctly transposed in that Member State.
      
      85     Accordingly, the complaint alleging incomplete transposition of Articles 12(2) and 13(1) of the Habitats Directive must be
         held to be well founded.
      
       The complaint alleging incorrect transposition of Article 12(4) of the Habitats Directive
      86     The Commission submits that the United Kingdom’s implementing measures contain no provision requiring the establishment of
         a monitoring system such as that required in Article 12(4), in respect of the incidental capture and killing of certain animal
         species. In the absence of further information the Commission is unable to establish whether such monitoring is in fact carried
         out.
      
      87     It need only be stated that the United Kingdom, first, has acknowledged that national legislation contains no provision designed
         to establish such a monitoring system and, second, accepted in its letter of 27 November 2001 that national legislation had
         to be amended so that such monitoring is expressly established.
      
      88     In any event, it does not appear that such a measure was adopted within the period laid down in the reasoned opinion.
      89     Accordingly, the complaint alleging that Article 12(4) of the Habitats Directive has been transposed incorrectly must be held
         to be well founded.
      
       The complaint alleging incorrect transposition of Article 15 of the Habitats Directive
      90     The Commission complains that the United Kingdom has failed to comply with its obligations under Article 15 of the Habitats
         Directive. First, it criticises that Member State for having prohibited only the methods expressly listed in Annex VI(a) and
         (b) to the directive, without imposing a general prohibition on the use of indiscriminate means. Second, the Commission submits
         that sections 1 and 10 of the Conservation of Seals Act prohibit the use of only two methods of killing seals, whilst providing
         for exemptions, in the form of licences granted by the Secretary of State, which appear to go beyond the derogations allowed
         by the directive.
      
      –       No general prohibition on all indiscriminate means
      91     The Commission pleads that United Kingdom legislation contains no general prohibition on the use of all indiscriminate means
         capable of causing local disappearance of, or serious disturbance to, populations of the relevant species of wild fauna. The
         national legislation does not therefore preclude the emergence of as yet unknown means of indiscriminate capture and killing.
      
      92     The United Kingdom contends that Article 15 of the directive has been transposed by regulation 41 of the 1994 Regulations,
         regulation 36(2) of the 1995 regulations and section 17V(2) of the 1991 Ordinance. It states that those provisions establish
         lists of every indiscriminate means of capture and killing of the protected species that is currently recorded in that Member
         State and that the lists are kept under review in order to be updated if necessary.
      
      93     As to those submissions, Article 15 of the Habitats Directive provides that, in respect of the capture or killing of species
         of wild fauna listed in Annex V(a) thereto and in cases where, in accordance with Article 16, derogations are applied to the
         taking, capture or killing of species listed in Annex IV(a), Member States are to prohibit the use of all indiscriminate means
         capable of causing local disappearance of, or serious disturbance to, populations of such species.
      
      94     That provision, as is apparent from its very wording, imposes a general obligation designed to prohibit the use of all indiscriminate
         means of capture or killing of the species of wild fauna concerned.
      
      95     In the present case, it is not in dispute that, at the end of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion, domestic law did
         not impose a general prohibition of that kind. 
      
      96     Furthermore, as the Advocate General has observed in point 89 of her Opinion, the possibility of updating a list of prohibited
         methods is less effective than a general prohibition. Delay in updating the aforementioned lists would necessarily lead to
         lacunae in protection which are specifically intended to be prevented by means of the general prohibition in Article 15 of
         the Habitats Directive. This interpretation is all the more justified because domestic law contains no statutory duty to review
         the lists.
      
      97     In those circumstances, it is not in any way guaranteed that all indiscriminate means capable of causing local disappearance
         of, or serious disturbance to, populations of the protected species are prohibited in the United Kingdom.
      
      98     Therefore, it must be held that the United Kingdom has not transposed Article 15 of the Habitats Directive correctly as regards
         the prohibition on all indiscriminate means of capture or killing of the species of wild fauna concerned.
      
      –       Conservation of Seals Act
      99     A preliminary point to note is that in its reply the Commission withdrew its complaint relating to the Conservation of Seals
         Act, on the basis of the fact that the United Kingdom had undertaken in its defence to adopt amending legislation in that
         regard. However, in its rejoinder the United Kingdom considered it necessary to alert the Commission that it would await the
         outcome of the present proceedings before amending its legislation. It was in those circumstances that at the hearing the
         Commission wished to maintain this complaint, and the United Kingdom did not contest this.
      
      100   The Commission submits that, by prohibiting only two methods of killing seals and allowing licences to be granted on conditions
         which go beyond the derogations provided for by the Habitats Directive, the Conservation of Seals Act does not comply with
         Article 15 of the directive.
      
      101   According to the United Kingdom, such an interpretation of the Conservation of Seals Act is incorrect. The Act simply supplements
         regulation 41 of the 1994 Regulations, which transposes Article 15 of the Habitats Directive, and it therefore provides additional
         protection for the various seal species.
      
      102   As to those submissions, first, as has been held in paragraph 98 of this judgment, regulation 41 of the 1994 Regulations does
         not transpose Article 15 of the Habitats Directive correctly. Therefore, the United Kingdom’s argument that the Conservation
         of Seals Act supplements regulation 41 of the 1994 Regulations cannot be upheld.
      
      103   Second, even if the Conservation of Seals Act were to supplement the 1994 Regulations, it could be interpreted as meaning
         that only the two methods expressly mentioned by it are prohibited.
      
      104   In those circumstances, the Conservation of Seals Act involves an element of legal uncertainty as to the methods of killing
         seals which are prohibited in the United Kingdom and it therefore does not ensure that Article 15 of the Habitats Directive
         is transposed correctly.
      
      105   It follows from the foregoing that the complaint relating to incorrect transposition of Article 15 of the Habitats Directive
         must be upheld.
      
       The complaint alleging incorrect transposition of Article 16 of the Habitats Directive
      106   First, the Commission submits that the body of national provisions establishing derogations from Articles 12, 13, 14 and 15(a)
         and (b) of the Habitats Directive, which are set out in particular in regulation 40 of the 1994 Regulations, regulation 35
         of the 1995 Regulations and section 17U of the 1991 Ordinance, does not comply with the two conditions specified in Article
         16 of the directive. The Commission observes that, as provided in Article 16, a derogation may be granted only if there is
         no satisfactory alternative and the derogation is not detrimental to the maintenance of the populations of the species concerned
         at a favourable conservation status in their natural range.
      
      107   It need only be stated (i) that the United Kingdom has accepted that any derogation granted pursuant to Article 16 of the
         directive must necessarily fulfil the two aforementioned conditions and (ii) that although that Member State has admitted
         that those conditions are not reproduced in the national legislation, no amendment designed to remedy that breach of obligations
         had been made at the end of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion.
      
      108   This part of the complaint must therefore be upheld.
      109   Second, the Commission submits that the specific derogations set out in regulations 40(3)(c) and 43(4) of the 1994 Regulations
         and in the equivalent provisions of the 1995 Regulations and the 1991 Ordinance go beyond the scope of Article 16 of the Habitats
         Directive. It states that the prohibitions laid down in order to transpose Articles 12, 13 and 16 of the directive are not
         applicable where the act in question is the result of a lawful operation.
      
      110   The United Kingdom contends that since it transposed the requirements of Articles 12 and 13 of the Habitats Directive by making
         their infringement a criminal offence, it is necessary to exclude the application of such an offence in cases where persons
         act without criminal intent.
      
      111   As to those submissions, Article 16 of the Habitats Directive defines in a precise manner the circumstances in which Member
         States may derogate from Articles 12, 13, 14 and 15(a) and (b) thereof, so that Article 16 must be interpreted restrictively.
      
      112   Furthermore, as the Advocate General has observed in point 113 of her Opinion, Articles 12, 13 and 16 of the Habitats Directive
         form a coherent body of provisions intended to protect the populations of the species concerned, so that any derogation incompatible
         with the directive would infringe both the prohibitions set out in Articles 12 and 13 and the rule that derogations may be
         granted in accordance with Article 16.
      
      113   The derogation at issue in the present case authorises acts which lead to the killing of protected species and to the deterioration
         or destruction of their breeding and resting places, where those acts are as such lawful. Therefore such a derogation, founded
         on the legality of the act, is contrary both to the spirit and purpose of the Habitats Directive and to the wording of Article
         16 thereof.
      
      114   Having regard to the foregoing, the action must be held well founded in this regard.
       Failure to apply the Habitats Directive beyond the territorial waters of the United Kingdom 
      115   The Commission alleges that the United Kingdom has limited the application of the provisions which transpose the Habitats
         Directive into national law to just national territory and United Kingdom territorial waters. It contends that within their
         exclusive economic zones the Member States have an obligation to comply with Community law in the fields where they exercise
         sovereign powers and that the directive therefore applies beyond territorial waters. In particular, the Commission complains
         that the United Kingdom has not complied in its exclusive economic zone with its obligation to designate SACs under Article
         4 of the directive or the obligation to provide species protection laid down in Article 12 of the directive.
      
      116   The United Kingdom, without contesting the validity of this complaint, states, first, that in 2001 it adopted appropriate
         legislation so far as concerns the petroleum industry, namely the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Conservation of Habitats)
         Regulations 2001, and second, that it has prepared suitable legislation to extend the application of the Habitats Directive’s
         requirements to the marine area beyond its territorial waters.
      
      117   As the Advocate General has rightly observed in points 132 and 133 of her Opinion, it is common ground between the parties
         that the United Kingdom exercises sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf and that the
         Habitats Directive is to that extent applicable beyond the Member States’ territorial waters. It follows that the directive
         must be implemented in that exclusive economic zone.
      
      118   Furthermore, it is common ground that the legislation to which the United Kingdom refers in its letter of 27 November 2001,
         which extends the application of the measures designed to transpose the requirements of the Habitats Directive beyond United
         Kingdom territorial waters, had not yet been adopted at the end of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion. 
      
      119   Consequently, the only national legislation in force at the end of that period was the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Conservation
         of Habitats) Regulations 2001. It is clear that those regulations concern only the petroleum industry and are therefore not
         capable by themselves of transposing the Habitats Directive beyond United Kingdom territorial waters.
      
      120   The Commission’s action must accordingly be held well founded in this regard.
      121   In light of all the foregoing considerations, it must be held that, by failing to adopt, within the prescribed period, all
         the measures necessary in order to implement completely and correctly the requirements of the Habitats Directive, and in particular
         of:
      
      –       Article 6(2), as regards Gibraltar,
      –       Article 6(3) and (4), as regards water abstraction plans and projects and land use plans,
      –       Article 11,
      –       Article 12(1)(d), as regards Gibraltar,
      –       Article 12(2),
      –       Article 12(4),
      –       Article 13(1),
      –       Article 14(2),
      –       Article 15,
      –       Article 16, 
      –       the whole of the Habitats Directive beyond its territorial waters,
      the United Kingdom has failed to fulfil its obligations under that directive.
       Costs
      122   Under Article 69(2) of the Rules of Procedure, the unsuccessful party is to be ordered to pay the costs if they have been
         applied for in the successful party’s pleadings. Since the Commission has applied for costs and the United Kingdom has been
         essentially unsuccessful, the United Kingdom must be ordered to pay the costs.
      
      On those grounds, the Court (Second Chamber) hereby:
      1.      Declares that, by failing to adopt, within the prescribed period, all the measures necessary in order to implement completely
            and correctly the requirements of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of
            wild fauna and flora, and in particular of:
      –       Article 6(2), as regards Gibraltar,
      –       Article 6(3) and (4), as regards water abstraction plans and projects and land use plans,
      –       Article 11,
      –       Article 12(1)(d), as regards Gibraltar,
      –       Article 12(2),
      –       Article 12(4),
      –       Article 13(1),
      –       Article 14(2),
      –       Article 15,
      –       Article 16, 
      –       the whole of Directive 92/43 beyond its territorial waters,
      the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has failed to fulfil its obligations under that directive;
      2.      Dismisses the action as to the remainder;
      3.      Orders the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to pay the costs.
      [Signatures]
      * Language of the case: English.