Brussels, 30/12/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission decided on 20 December to refer Ireland to the Court of Justice of the European Communities for the second time to secure enforcement of a previous judgement handed down in September 1999. It also decided to propose that the Court impose a fine of EUR 21,600 a day from the day of the second judgement. The case concerns Ireland's failure to abide by the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive with regard to peat extraction.
On 21 September 1999, the Court of Justice ruled that Ireland had not correctly transposed certain provisions of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, including with regard to peat extraction projects. The Court found that Ireland's rules did not take enough account of the need to assess projects that are likely to affect environmentally sensitive areas. Ireland has since adopted new implementing legislation. However, after examining this, the Commission concluded that, for approximately 45,000 hectares of sensitive peatlands, further steps are still required. In particular, at present Irish legislation does not ensure that all environmentally significant peat extraction projects below 10 hectares are subject to assessment.
In European and global terms, Irish peatlands of conservation importance represent valuable habitats, hosting rare plant and animal species. The raised bogs, formed over thousands of years, are especially at risk. Nearly 90% of Ireland's raised bogs have already been lost and what survives is therefore a small remnant. Nonetheless, this remnant includes some of the best surviving examples in Europe. The peatlands can provide local communities with a valuable long-term resource for amenity, education eco-tourism and scientific research.
The mechanism chosen by Ireland to implement the Court ruling involves integrating new impact assessment rules into a system of safeguards for environmentally sensitive peatlands designated as Natural Heritage Areas (NHA). However, the required peatland designations have not yet been made. The Commission recognises that an important step is being taken towards making Ireland's system of protection fully operational and is hopeful that the case can be solved. If the NHA sites are designated and similar measures taken, the case might be resolved before the Court imposes a daily penalty. However, given that the Court judgements ought to be implemented as soon as possible, that the judgement in this case dates back to 1999, and that the required measures are still not fully established, the Commission has decided that it is necessary to refer Ireland back to the Court.