In a ruling on Tuesday 17 April (Case C-441/17), the EU Court of Justice finds that forestry management by Poland on the Natura 2000 Puszcza Bialowieska site is in breach of EU law. The Court takes the view that implementation of logging threatens the integrity of the protected site.
In 2007, in line with the “habitats” directive, the Commission approved the designation of the Natura 2000 Puszeza Bialowieska site. Due to the propagation of the bostryche typographe bark beetle, Warsaw gave authorisation, in 2016, for active forestry management and logging to be tripled. In 2017, the director general of the Polish forestry office adopted a decision on the logging of trees colonised by the bark beetle.
Upon a referral from the Commission in July 2017 calling on the Court to note that Poland had failed in its obligations under the habitats directive (92/43) and wild birds directive (2009/147) (see EUROPE 11829), the Court follows the conclusions of the advocate general (see EUROPE 11965).
The judge notes that the Polish authorities failed in their obligations arising from both directives. The argument developed by Poland does not, in fact, allow one to consider that the active forestry management operations in question can be justified by the need to eradicate the bark beetle.
The beetle was not identified by the 2015 management plan as being a potential danger for the integrity of the Natura 2000 site, whereas removal of the spruce and pine trees - hundreds of years old and colonised by the beetle - presents a real potential danger. Finally, the Court states that the decisions taken by Poland are of a kind that will harm if not destroy habitats for the reproduction of certain beetles protected by the habitats directive.
The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament and the WWF organisation applauded the Court’s ruling.
Poland’s Environment Minister Henryk Kowalczyk reiterated that his country would “respect the ruling”, giving his assurance that every action in the forest was undertaken with the aim of preserving it in the best possible state for “future generations”. He pointed out that his ministry would soon present a long-term action plan for the protection of the forest, to be presented to the European Commission. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)