CELEX: C2003/101/39
Language: en
Date: 2003-04-26 00:00:00
Title: Case C-79/03: Action brought on 21 February 2003 by Commission of the European Communities against Kingdom of Spain

C 101/24               EN                        Official Journal of the European Union                                             26.4.2003
       the case and made a manifest error of assessment. The             The Commission takes the view that there are alternative
       Court of First Instance thus infringed Articles 230, 232          methods for capturing thrushes with the aim of avoiding
       and 234 EC as well as the Statute and the Rules of                damage to crops, such as hunting with rifles or employing
       Procedure.                                                        auditory or visual deterrents using flare guns, vibrating tapes
                                                                         or a combination of such methods. In other Spanish regions
                                                                         (Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, etc) there are extensive areas
( 1) OJ C 44 of 22.2.2003.                                               of olive groves and vineyards where hunting with lime is not
                                                                         permitted and where hunting with rifles in autumn and winter
                                                                         is considered adequate protection.
                                                                         Finally, the derogation under Article 9(1)(c) of Directive 79/
                                                                         409/EEC cannot apply in view of the fact that the parany is a
                                                                         non-selective hunting method and the high number of speci-
                                                                         mens captured.
Action brought on 21 February 2003 by Commission of
    the European Communities against Kingdom of Spain
                                                                         (1 ) OJ 1979 L 103, p. 1.
                                                                         (2 ) According to Article 4(1) of Decree 135/2000, ‘the only species
                          (Case C-79/03)                                      whose capture is permitted are the following: song thrush (Turdus
                                                                              philomenus), fieldfare (Turdus pilares), redwing (Turdus iliacus)
                                                                              and mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus)’.
                         (2003/C 101/39)
An action against the Kingdom of Spain was brought before
the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 21 Febru-
ary 2003 by the Commission of the European Communities,
represented by Gregorio Valero Jordana, of its Legal Service,            Action brought on 24 February 2003 (by fax on 21 Febru-
with an address for service in Luxembourg.                               ary 2003) by the Commission of the European Communi-
                                                                                        ties against the Republic of Austria
The applicant claims that the Court should:                                                           (Case C-81/03)
—      declare that, by tolerating the practice of hunting with                                      (2003/C 101/40)
       birdlime in the Autonomous Community of Valencia,
       governed by Decree 135/2000 of 12 September 2000 of
       the Government of Valencia laying down conditions and
       requirements for the granting of special permits for the
       hunting of thrush with birdlime in the Community of               An action against the Republic of Austria was brought
       Valencia, the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil its           before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on
       obligations under Article 8(1) and Article 9(1) of Council        24 February 2003 (by fax on 21 February 2003) by the
       Directive 79/409/EEC ( 1) of 2 April 1979 on the conser-          Commission of the European Communities, represented by
       vation of wild birds.                                             Maria Patakia, Legal Adviser in the Commission’s legal service
                                                                         and Claudia Schmidt, a member of the Commission’s legal
                                                                         service, with an address for service at the office of Luis Escobar
—      order the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs.                      Guerrero, a member of the Commission’s legal service, Wagner
                                                                         Centre C 254, Luxembourg-Kirchberg.
Pleas in law and main arguments                                          The Commission claims that the Court should:
                                                                         1.     declare that, by prohibiting, under Paragraph 7a of
The ‘parany’ is an arrangement intended for the capture of                      the Bundesgesetz über die Regelung der gehobenen
thrush ( 2), which requires the use of small twigs impregnated                  medizinisch-technischen Dienste (Federal Law on the
with birdlime. Hunting with birdlime is a non-selective method                  Regulation of Higher Medico-Technical Services; ‘MTD-
of capture, as referred to in Annex IV(a) to Directive 79/409/                  Gesetz’), the independent exercise in Austria of certain
EEC and, accordingly, prohibited under Article 8 thereof, since                 medico-technical professions (laboratory, radiological
it cannot be guaranteed that birds of the species listed in                     and orthoptic services), the Republic of Austria has failed
Annex I to Directive 79/409/EEC or other protected migratory                    to fulfil its obligations under Articles 43 and 49 EC;
or non-hunting species are not caught in the parany and
trapped in the lime.                                                     2.     order the Republic of Austria to pay the costs.