Brussels, 19/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to pursue the infringement procedure against Greece and Belgium which persist in not fully complying with Community legislation on the conservation of wild birds (Directive 79/409/EEC). These two Member States will be hauled before the European Court of Justice (third stage of the procedure) for not having tackled the shortcomings noted in their national legislation that should have transposed the demands of the directive into national law, directive that aims to protect the habitats of wild birds, bans certain practices and regulates hunting. Here, in each case, are the details of the infringements committed:
Greece: national legislation on hunting contravenes the obligation to protect migratory wild birds on their return flights to their places of reproduction. Indeed, because it allows for the extension of the hunting season until 28 February, the legal period overlaps with the period of protection applied to seventeen species of migratory wild birds out of twenty-three. In a press release, the Commission recalls that the directive fully recognises the legitimacy of the practice of hunting, and that it is up to Member States to set the periods for hunting. The latter must, however, respect the demands of species conservation during vulnerable periods for birds, as interpreted by the Court of Justice, i.e.: total protection during the period of reproduction and during the return flights to their nests.
Belgium: the Commission accuses Belgian legislation of a restrictive interpretation of the provisions of the directive concerning the ban on practices of direct threat to birds (like the intentional destruction of nests and eggs) or indirect threat (like trading in live or dead birds). For example, the Belgian legislation limits to species of birds indigenous to Belgium certain of these bans that apply to all wild birds in the Community, and does not, as it should, prohibit the holding of eggs of rare species.