Case C-97/17: Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 26 April 2018 — European Commission v Republic of Bulgaria (Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Protection of nature — Directive 2009/147/EC — Conservation of wild birds — Special Protection Area (SPA) — Classification as SPAs of the most suitable territories in number and size for the conservation of the bird species listed in Annex I to Directive 2009/147 — Important Bird Area (IBA) — IBA Rila — Partial classification of IBA Rila as an SPA)
Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 26 April 2018 — European Commission v Republic of Bulgaria
(Case C-97/17) ( 1 )
‛(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Protection of nature — Directive 2009/147/EC — Conservation of wild birds — Special Protection Area (SPA) — Classification as SPAs of the most suitable territories in number and size for the conservation of the bird species listed in Annex I to Directive 2009/147 — Important Bird Area (IBA) — IBA Rila — Partial classification of IBA Rila as an SPA)’
2018/C 211/09Language of the case: BulgarianParties
Applicant: European Commission (represented by: P. Mihaylova and C. Hermes, acting as Agents)
Defendant: Republic of Bulgaria (represented by: E. Petranova and L. Zaharieva, acting as Agents)
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
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1. |
Declares that, by failing to include the entire Important Bird Area covering the Rila Mountains as a Special Protection Area, the Republic of Bulgaria did not classify as SPAs the most suitable territories in number and size for the conservation of the species listed in Annex I to Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on wild birds, so that that Member State failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 4(1) of that directive. |
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2. |
Orders the Republic of Bulgaria to pay the costs. |
( 1 ) OJ C 121, 18.4.2017.