Asociación para la Conservación y Estudio del Lobo Ibérico (ASCEL) v Administración de la Comunidad de Castilla y León.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Celex Number: 62022CJ0436
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:2024:656
• Date: 29 July 2024
• Docket Number: C-436/22
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)

Provisional text

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (First Chamber)

29 July 2024 (*)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora – Directive 92/43/EEC – Articles 2, 4, 11, 12, 14, 16 and 17 – System of strict protection for animal species – Canis lupus (wolf) – Cynegetic exploitation – Assessment of the conservation status of populations of the species concerned – Conservation status of that species ‘unfavourable-poor’ – Exploitation incompatible with the maintenance or restoration of the species at a favourable conservation status – Taking into account of all the most recent scientific data)

In Case C‑436/22,

REQUEST for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Castilla y León (High Court of Justice, Castile and Leon, Spain), made by decision of 30 June 2022, received at the Court on 1 July 2022, in the proceedings

Asociación para la Conservación y Estudio del Lobo Ibérico (ASCEL)

v

Administración de la Comunidad de Castilla y León,

THE COURT (First Chamber),

composed of A. Arabadjiev (Rapporteur), President of the Chamber, T. von Danwitz, P.G. Xuereb, A. Kumin and I. Ziemele, Judges,

Advocate General: J. Kokott,

Registrar: A. Calot Escobar,

having regard to the written procedure,

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:

– the Asociación para la Conservación y Estudio del Lobo Ibérico (ASCEL), by M.J. Gil Ibáñez, abogada, and A.I. Fernández Marcos, procuradora,

– the Administración de la Comunidad de Castilla y León, by D. Vélez Berzosa, acting as letrada,

– the Spanish Government, initially by I. Herranz Elizalde, and subsequently by M. Morales Puerta, acting as Agents,

– the Finnish Government, by H. Leppo, acting as Agent,

– the European Commission, by C. Hermes and E. Sanfrutos Cano, acting as Agents,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 25 January 2024,

gives the following

Judgment

1 This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 2(2) and Articles 4, 11, 12, 14, 16 and 17 of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (OJ 1992 L 206, p. 7), as amended by Council Directive 2013/17/EU of 13 May 2013 (OJ 2013 L 158, p. 193) (‘the Habitats Directive’).

2 The request has been made in proceedings between the Asociación para la Conservación y Estudio del Lobo Ibérico (ASCEL) (Association for the Conservation and Study of the Iberian Wolf) and the Administración de la Comunidad de Castilla y Leon (Administration of the Autonomous Community of Castile and Leon, Spain) concerning an application made by ASCEL, seeking annulment of the decision of the Dirección General del Patrimonio Natural y Política Forestal de la Junta de Castilla y León (Directorate-General of Natural Heritage and Forestry Policy of the Government of Castile and Leon, Spain) of 9 October 2019 approving the Plan for the local exploitation of wolves in hunting grounds situated north of the River Douro in Castile and Leon for the 2019/2020, 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 seasons (‘the decision of 9 October 2019’), and an order that the defendant in the main proceedings pay compensation for each specimen killed during those seasons.

Legal context

European Union law

3 The first recital of the Habitats Directive states:

‘… the preservation, protection and improvement of the quality of the environment, including the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, are an essential objective of general interest pursued by the [European] Community, as stated in Article [191 TFEU]’.

4 The fifteenth recital of that directive states:

‘ … a general system of protection is required for certain species of flora and fauna to complement [Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds (OJ 1979 L 103, p. 1)]; whereas provision should be made for management measures for certain species, if their conservation status so warrants, including the prohibition of certain means of capture or killing, whilst providing for the possibility of derogations on certain conditions’.

5 Article 1(i) of the Habitats Directive provides:

‘For the purpose of this Directive:

…

(i) conservation status of a species means the sum of the influences acting on the species concerned that may affect the long-term distribution and abundance of its populations within the territory referred to in Article 2

…’

6Article 2 of the Habitats Directive provides:

‘1. The aim of this Directive shall be to contribute towards ensuring bio-diversity through the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora in the European territory of the Member States to which the Treaty applies.

2. Measures taken pursuant to this Directive shall be designed to maintain or restore, at favourable conservation status, natural habitats and species of wild fauna and flora of Community interest.

3. Measures taken pursuant to this Directive shall take account of economic, social and cultural requirements and regional and local characteristics.’

7Article 4 of the Habitats Directive provides:

‘1. On the basis of the criteria set out in Annex III (Stage 1) and relevant scientific information, each Member State shall propose a list of sites indicating which natural habitat types in Annex I and which species in Annex II that are native to its territory the sites host. For animal species ranging over wide areas these sites shall correspond to the places within the natural range of such species which present the physical or biological factors essential to their life and reproduction. …

The list shall be transmitted to the [European] Commission, within three years of the notification of this Directive, together with information on each site. …

…

4. Once a site of Community importance has been adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in paragraph 2, the Member State concerned shall designate that site as a special area of conservation as soon as possible and within six years at most, establishing priorities in the light of the importance of the sites for the maintenance or restoration, at a favourable conservation status, of a natural habitat type in Annex I or a species in Annex II and for the coherence of Natura 2000, and in the light of the threats of degradation or destruction to which those sites are exposed.

…’

8 Under Article 11 of the Habitats Directive, ‘Member States shall undertake surveillance of the conservation status of the natural habitats and species referred to in Article 2 with particular regard to priority natural habitat types and priority species’.

9 Article 12 of that directive provides:

‘1. Member States shall take the requisite measures to establish a system of strict protection for the animal species listed in Annex IV(a) in their natural range, prohibiting:

(a) all forms of deliberate capture or killing of specimens of these species in the wild;

(b) deliberate disturbance of these species, particularly during the period of breeding, rearing, hibernation and migration;

(c) deliberate destruction or taking of eggs from the wild;

(d) deterioration or destruction of breeding sites or resting places.

…’

10 Article 14 of that same directive provides:

‘1. If, in the light of the surveillance provided for in Article 11, Member States deem it necessary, they shall take measures to ensure that the taking in the wild of specimens of species of wild fauna and flora listed in Annex V as well as their exploitation is compatible with their being maintained at a favourable conservation status.

2. Where such measures are deemed necessary, they shall include continuation of the surveillance provided for in Article 11. Such measures may also include in particular:

– regulations regarding access to certain property,

– temporary or local prohibition of the taking of specimens in the wild and exploitation of certain populations,

– regulation of the periods and/or methods of taking specimens,

– application, when specimens are taken, of hunting and fishing rules which take account of the conservation of such populations,

– establishment of a system of licences for taking specimens or of quotas,

– regulation of the purchase, sale, offering for sale, keeping for sale or transport for sale of specimens,

– breeding in captivity of animal species as well as artificial propagation of plant species, under strictly controlled conditions, with a view to reducing the taking of specimens of the wild,

– assessment of the effect of the measures adopted.’

11Article 16(1) of the Habitats Directive states:

‘Provided that there is no satisfactory alternative and the derogation is not detrimental to the maintenance of the populations of the species concerned at a favourable conservation status in their natural range, Member States may derogate from the provisions of Articles 12, 13, 14 and 15 (a) and (b):

(a) in the interest of protecting wild fauna and flora and conserving natural habitats;

(b) to prevent serious damage, in particular to crops, livestock, forests, fisheries and water and other types of property;

(c) in the interests of public health and public safety, or for other imperative reasons of overriding public interest, including those of a social or economic nature and beneficial consequences of primary importance for the environment;

(d) for the purpose of research and education, of repopulating and re-introducing these species and for the breedings operations necessary for these purposes, including the artificial propagation of plants;

(e) to allow, under strictly supervised conditions, on a selective basis and to a limited extent, the taking or keeping of certain specimens of the species listed in Annex IV in limited numbers specified by the competent national authorities.’

12 Article 17(1) of that directive provides:

‘Every six years from the date of expiry of the period laid down in Article 23, Member States shall...