Case C‑281/16

Vereniging Hoekschewaards Landschap

v

Staatssecretaris van Economische Zaken

(Request for a preliminary ruling
from the Raad van State (Netherlands))

(Reference for a preliminary ruling — Directive 92/43/EEC — Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora — Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/72 — List of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region — Reduction of the size of a site — Scientific error — Validity)

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber), 19 October 2017

Environment — Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora — Directive 92/43 — Sites of Community importance — Reduction of the size of a site at the request of the Member State concerned — No scientific error at the time the site was placed on the list — Obligation for the Commission to dismiss the request — Adoption of a decision to reduce the size of the site concerned — Not permissible — Annulment

(Council Directive 92/43, Art. 4(1); Commission Decision 2015/72)

Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/72 of 3 December 2014 adopting an eighth update of the list of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region is invalid, in so far as, by that decision, the Haringvliet site (NL 1000015) was placed on that list without the inclusion of the Leenheerenpolder.

In that respect, the Netherlands Government confirmed, at the hearing, that the Kingdom of the Netherlands had not invoked the existence of a ‘scientific error’ at the time it submitted to the Commission its proposal to reduce the size of the Haringvliet SCI. Furthermore, for its part, the Commission has provided to the Court no conclusive scientific evidence capable of proving that such an error had vitiated the initial proposal. Therefore, at the occasion of the eighth update of the list of SCIs in the Atlantic biogeographical region by Implementing Decision 2015/72, the Commission could not, lawfully, rely on the existence of an initial scientific error in order to place the Haringvliet site on that list without including the Leenheerenpolder.

(see paras 38-41, operative part)