€10m fine for Portugal after breaching EU Habitats Directive
The Court of Justice of the European Union has order Portugal to pay €10 million for failing to comply with a judgment on the Habitats Directive.
The court has also imposed a penalty payment of "€41,250" per day on Portugal until it fully complies with that judgment.
It has said that this penalty "will be reduced" as Portugal makes progress on the judgement.
According to the European Court of Justice the "preservation and restoration of biodiversity in Europe is one of the European Union’s main priorities".
"The Habitats Directive contributes to this through the conservation of natural habitats as well as of wild fauna and florapresent on the European territory of the member states," the EU court outlined.
Under the Habitats Directive and Birds Directive special areas of conservation (SACs) must be designated by member states and these SACs are subject to a special protection system.
Habitats Directive
The Court of Justice of the European Union had previously ruled (September 5, 2019) that Portugal had failed to fulfil its obligations to designate as SACs a total of 61 Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) and to adopt the necessary conservation measures.
Following that in September 2024 the court took the view that Portugal had not complied with its judgment in 2019.
The European Commission brought a further action for failure to fulfil obligations and requested that the Court of Justice of the European Union impose financial penalties.
The court has now decided that its first judgment "has not been complied with" and it has told Portugal it must pay a lump sumand a penalty payment.
It detailed that "first of all, that the legislation adopted by Portugal, which merely designates SCIs as SACs without specifying either the natural habitat types or the protected species present on each of them, remains inadequate for the purpose of complying with the Habitats Directive".
The court also believes that Portugal "has still not adopted appropriate conservation measures".
Environmental law
According to the Court of Justice of the European Union Portugal has persisted in "serious infringements of EU environmental law".
"Given that Portugal’s territory hosts rich biodiversity, including 99 habitat types and 335 species covered by the Habitats Directive, what is at stake for the European Union’s common heritage there is especially important.
"In view of this, as well as the considerable duration of the infringement and Portugal’s capacity to pay, the court sets the amount of the lump sum at €10 million," it outlined.
According to the court it also decided to impose a penalty payment, "in order to encourage Portugal to bring the infringement to an end".
