EU serves Germany with fines for inadequately implementing nature conservation law

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that Germany violated an EU nature and conservation law by failing to adequately implement a regulation aimed at protecting natural habitats, with Berlin now potentially facing hefty fines.

As reported by the Deutsche Welle, this decision comes after the European Commission initiated legal action against Germany and several other EU member states in 2021 for non-compliance with the EU directive.

As a result of the ECJ ruling, although the exact amount of the fines was not specified in the decision. The European Commission argued that Germany had not established a sufficient number of conservation targets, which are intended to protect or restore populations of specific wildlife, insects, and plants in designated areas.

The court concurred with the Commission's claims, noting that Germany had not designated 88 out of 4,606 sites as special conservation areas within the required timeframe. Additionally, 707 sites lacked the mandatory conservation targets mandated by EU law.

The EU's nature and conservation law is aimed at safeguarding and restoring biodiversity by protecting the habitats of local flora and fauna. In recent years, the European Commission has intensified its efforts to enforce the bloc's environmental laws as part of its commitment to combating climate change.

This ruling is not the first time the ECJ has found member states in violation of the conservation law. In 2019 and 2020, it ruled against Portugal and Greece, respectively, for failing to fulfill their obligations in this area.