Luxembourg, 13/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - In a case involving public contracts for work carried out in the port of Monfalcone by the company Dragaggi, the Court of Justice has indicated that the protection regime set in place by the directive on the conservation of natural habitats is only binding for the list of sites of community importance agreed by the Commission. However, it adds in a press release, the Member States must also guarantee adequate protection for other sites.
In 2001, Societa Italiana Dragaggi won a public contract for dredging work in the port of Monfalcone, in the mouth of the Timavo River. The contract was then rescinded, as the site where the sediment was supposed to be gathered, which was labelled a site of community interest even before its inclusion on the European list, had to be submitted to an impact assessment beforehand.
Dragaggi contested this cancellation, because it felt that as the Commission had not yet included the site on the list of sites on community interest, the impact assessment procedure was not applicable. The Italian Council of State asked the Court to rule. The Court declared that this protection regime was only required for sites on the Commission's list. However, it added, the Member States have a duty of protection towards sites of national interest, and must ensure that steps are taken to preserve their ecological interest.
With this in mind, it is now up to the Italian Council of State to decide whether the Italian authorities were right to stop the dredging work in the port of Monfalcone, and comment on how the ecological interest of the site can be preserved.