Brussels, 11/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - Irrigation and the supply of drinking water constitute overriding public interests that may, in principle, justify the diversion of a river. The member state concerned must, however, precisely identify the adverse impact on the sites concerned and take every necessary compensatory measure to protect the overall coherence of the “Natura 2000” network. That in substance was what was stated in the ruling (Case C-43/10) delivered by the EU Court of Justice on Tuesday 11 September.
The Court's ruling comes in answer to questions referred to it by the Greek State Council relating to a project for diversion of the River Acheloos towards the River Pineios in order to meet irrigation needs, to produce electricity and to provide a supply of water to a number of towns and cities. The Greek legal authorities wished to know whether the proposed diversion was in line with the EU directives on water (2000/60/EC), on the environmental impact of public and private projects (2003/35/EC) and the Habitats directive (92/43/EEC). According to the Court, the first two directives are not, in principle, opposed to the project in question. However, when it comes to the Habitats directive, a water diversion project cannot be authorised if it seriously affects a special protection area (SPA) (e.g. for the conservation of wild bird species), in the absence of reliable and updated data concerning the birds in that area. If the project must nonetheless be carried out for “reasons of overriding public interest”, knowledge of the adverse effects on the site's environment is essential for weighing up those public interest reasons and the damage to the site in order to determine the nature of any compensatory measures. The judges say that irrigation and drinking water supply constitute “an overriding public interest”. On the other hand, only considerations relating to public health (drinking water supply) and beneficial consequences for the environment may be invoked for sites that have a natural type of habitat and/or a priority species. According to the Court, for sites of the Natura 2000 network, the Habitats directive authorises the conversion of a natural fluvial ecosystem into a largely man-made fluvial and lacustrine ecosystem, provided that, inter alia, the member state takes all compensatory measures necessary to ensure that the overall coherence of Natura 2000 is protected. (FG/transl.jl)