Commissie start procedures tegen Finland, Zweden en Denemarken wegens niet-naleving natuur- en milieurichtlijnen (en)

The European Commission has decided to pursue legal action against Finland, Sweden and Denmark for violations of EU environmental laws on nature protection and industrial pollution. The Commission is referring Finland to the European Court of Justice over hunting of wolves and sending Sweden a final written warning over the hunting and destruction of cormorants and rooks. Denmark is to receive a final written warning over its approach to controlling pollution from large pig and poultry farms.

Stavros Dimas, European Commissioner for Environment, said: "These infringements undermine the EU's efforts to maintain a healthy environment for citizens as well as for our wildlife. Hunting is subject to strict conditions which must be respected in order to conserve populations of species that have important roles to play in keeping Europe's ecosystems and biological diversity healthy. Member States also need to follow the rules for minimising industrial pollution to avoid creating confusion that could let some potential polluters off the hook." ;

Finland referred to the Court over hunting of wolves

The EU Habitats Directive^[1] requires Member States to strictly protect a number of animal species, including the wolf. Strict protection involves prohibiting all forms of deliberate capture or killing of specimens of these species. Exceptions to this prohibition are subject to strict conditions: they are allowed only if there is no satisfactory alternative, if the species' favourable conservation status is maintained and if certain other preconditions are fulfilled, such as the existence of a need to prevent serious damage.

Finland, however, allows the systematic hunting of wolves, with hunting licences granted on the basis of certain predetermined quotas. The Commission considers that this approach does not meet the conditions laid down in the directive for granting exceptions to the general prohibition on deliberate capture or killing. Licences are regularly granted without being linked to individual animals causing serious damage and in spite of alternative solutions being available. The Commission has therefore decided to take Finland to the European Court.

Final warning to Sweden over hunting of cormorants and rooks

The Wild Birds Directive,^[2] the European Union's oldest piece of nature conservation legislation, prohibits among other things the deliberate killing and destruction of, or damage to, the nests and eggs of the birds its covers.

These include the cormorant and the rook. The directive provides that certain species, such as the rook, may be hunted in accordance with national legislation, but not during the rearing season or during the various stages of reproduction. Exemptions from these prohibitions are allowed only if no other satisfactory solution is possible and if there are specific reasons, such as the need to prevent serious damage to fisheries.

Sweden has in several cases allowed the hunting of cormorants and rooks during the rearing season. Swedish authorities have also several times authorised the destruction of cormorant eggs in the Stockholm Archipelago. Rook nests containing birds and eggs have been destroyed for a number of years in Uppsala Municipality. The Commission considers that these practices do not qualify for exemptions from the directive's conservation aims. Hunting and nest destruction are general destructive measures and are not focused on the individual birds that cause serious damage. Alternative solutions are available.

The Commission has therefore decided to send Sweden a final written warning that these practices violate the Wild Birds Directive. If it does not receive a satisfactory response the Commission may decide to take the case to the European Court.

Final warning to Denmark over intensive agricultural installations

The directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC),^[3] ;one of the major pieces of EU environmental legislation on industrial emissions, regulates the operations of large industrial and agricultural installations with a high pollution potential. These installations must have operating permits which set limits on their emissions to the air, water and land in an `integrated' way taking account of all three media. In the agricultural sector, the permit requirement applies to factory farms with places for more than 40,000 poultry birds, 2,000 pigs or 750 sows.

Denmark's legislation to implement the directive does not operate on the concept of places, as required by the directive, but instead specifies the number of livestock units and a calculation factor. The Commission considers that the Danish system does not transpose the directive's requirements with the necessary legal certainty and accuracy and could lead to some pig or poultry installations not being covered even though they fall under the directive. For this reason the Commission has decided to send Denmark a final written warning that it is infringing the IPPC Directive. If it does not receive a satisfactory response the Commission may decide to take the case to the European Court.

Legal Process

Article 226 of the Treaty gives the Commission powers to take legal action against a Member State that is not respecting its obligations.

If the Commission considers that there may be an infringement of EU law that warrants the opening of an infringement procedure, it addresses a "Letter of Formal Notice" (first written warning) to the Member State concerned, requesting it to submit its observations by a specified date, usually two months.

In the light of the reply or absence of a reply from the Member State concerned, the Commission may decide to address a "Reasoned Opinion" (final written warning) to the Member State.

This clearly and definitively sets out the reasons why it considers there to have been an infringement of EU law and calls upon the Member State to comply within a specified period, normally two months.

If the Member State fails to comply with the Reasoned Opinion, the Commission may decide to bring the case before the European Court of Justice. Where the Court of Justice finds that the Treaty has been infringed, the offending Member State is required to take the measures necessary to conform.

Article 228 of the Treaty gives the Commission power to act against a Member State that does not comply with a previous judgement of the European Court of Justice, again by issuing a first written warning ("Letter of Formal Notice") and then a second and final written warning ("Reasoned Opinion"). The article then allows the Commission to ask the Court to impose a financial penalty on the Member State concerned.

For current statistics on infringements in general see:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm#infractions ;

^[1] Directive 92/43/EEC

^[2] Directive 79/409/EEC

^[3] Directive 96/61/EC