Poland will be taken to the EU Court of Justice for persistent breaches of the EU’s ‘Habitats’ Directive (Directive 92/43/EEC) and ‘Birds’ Directive (Directive 2009/147/EC), the European Commission announced on Thursday 3 December. The issue is Polish legislation on forest management.
The European Commission is critical of the Member State for having wrongly exempted forest management in 2016 from having to comply with the strict protection obligations of species as laid down by those two directives, which form the basis of the pan-European network of protected natural areas, Natura 2000.
In addition, Polish legislation does not provide for access to justice in forest management plans that regulate activities such as logging and which must undergo an assessment of their effects on Natura 2000 before being authorised under EU legislation.
Although Poland, after receiving a letter of formal notice in July 2018 and a reasoned opinion one year later, indicated to the European Commission that it was considering amending its national legislation, any progress has thus far been stalled.
Hence the European Commission’s decision to press ahead with the third stage of the infringement procedure. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)