An action against the Kingdom of Spain was brought before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 4 June 2004 by the Commission of the European Communities, represented by D.M. van Beek and Gregorio Valero Jordana, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

Pleas in law and main arguments

Article 4(1) and (2) of Directive 79/409/EC places on Members States an obligation to classify territories as special protection areas for the conservation of birds, to ensure effective protection of the species listed in Annex I to that directive and of regularly occurring migratory species, in order to guarantee their survival and reproduction in their area of distribution. That obligation relates, as a minimum, to all the most suitable territories, as regards their number and size, for the conservation of the species concerned, having regard to their protection requirements. What constitutes a sufficient number of special protection areas is determined by reference to the objective pursued.

The Member Stakes enjoy a degree of latitude in determining which territories best meet the requirements listed in Article 4 of the directive, but they must base their evaluations solely on scientific ornithological criteria. In the case of Spain, the inventory of important bird areas (IBA) drawn up by the Sociedad Española de Ornitología (Spanish Ornithological Society) in 1998 (SEO/Birdlife Inventory 98) constitutes the best documented and most accurate basis available for defining the most suitable territories for conservation and, in particular, for the survival and reproduction of important species. That inventory is based on balanced ornithological criteria, making it possible to indicate which places are most suitable for guaranteeing conservation of all the species mentioned in Annex 1 and other migratory species, and identifies the priority areas for the conservation of birds in Spain.

From a comparison of the data of the SEO/Birdlife Inventory 98 with the special protection areas designated by the Kingdom of Spain, for Spanish territory as a whole, and from a more detailed analysis by the Autonomous Communities, it can be inferred that the number and size of the areas classified as special protection areas fall short of what scientific evidence indicates as the areas most suitable for providing adequate protection of the birds covered by Article 4 of the directive.

(1)   OJ L 103 of 25.4.1979, p. 1.