The compulsory daily fine would stay in place until the CJEU ruling has been completely executed. However, it would be reduced taking into account the progress made.
The CJEU pointed out that that the legislation adopted by Portugal, which merely designates sites of Community importance (SCIs) as special areas of conservation (SACs) without specifying either the natural habitat types or the protected species present on each of them, remains inadequate for the purpose of complying with the Habitats Directive. Portugal has also still not adopted appropriate conservation measures.
The Court considers that these are particularly serious infringements of EU environmental law, in which Portugal has persisted.
Given that Portugal’s territory hosts rich biodiversity, including 99 habitat types and 335 species covered by the Habitats Directive, what is at stake for the European Union’s common heritage there is especially important. In view of this, as well as the considerable duration of the infringement and Portugal’s capacity to pay, the Court sets the amount of the lump sum at €10 million, stated the CJEU press release.
The European Commission submitted before the court that the non-execution of the judgment September 5, 2019 (C-290/18) entails a serious risk of aggravating the deterioration of the conservation status of natural habitats and species in Portugal, in an overall context of biodiversity degradation.
