Keywords
Summary

Keywords

++++

1. Environment ° Conservation of wild birds ° Directive 79/409 ° Preservation, maintenance and re-establishment of habitats ° Obligations of Member States ° Scope

(Council Directive 79/409, Arts 3 and 4)

2. Environment ° Conservation of wild birds ° Directive 79/409 ° Special conservation measures ° Obligations of Member States ° Derogations ° Neccessity of a general interest taking precedence over ecological objectives ° Not to include economic and recreational requirements

(Council Directive 79/409, Art. 4)

3. Environment ° Conservation of wild birds ° Directive 79/409 ° Delimitation and modification of special protection areas ° Discretion of Member States ° Limits

(Council Directive 79/409, Art. 4(1) and (4))

Summary

1. Articles 3 and 4 of Directive 79/409 on the conservation of wild birds require Member States to preserve, maintain and re-establish the habitats of the said birds as such, because of their ecological value. The obligations on Member States under those articles exist even before any reduction is observed in the number of birds or any risk of a protected species becoming extinct has materialized.

2. In implementing Directive 79/409 on the conservation of wild birds, Member States are not authorized to invoke, at their option, grounds of derogation based on taking other interests into account. With respect, more specifically, to the obligation to take special conservation measures for certain species under Article 4 of the directive, such grounds must, in order to be acceptable, correspond to a general interest which is superior to the general interest represented by the ecological objective of the directive. In particular, the interests referred to in Article 2 of the directive, namely economic and recreational requirements, do not enter into consideration, as that provision does not constitute an autonomous derogation from the general system of protection established by the directive.

3. In choosing the territories which are most suitable for classification as special protection areas pursuant to Article 4(1) of Directive 79/409 on the conservation of wild birds, Member States have a certain discretion which is limited by the fact that the classification of those areas is subject to certain ornithological criteria determined by the directive, such as the presence of birds listed in Annex I to the directive, on the one hand, and the designation of a habitat as a wetland area, on the other.

However, Member States do not have the same discretion under Article 4(4) of the directive to modify or reduce the extent of such areas.