Germany violated nature conservation law, rules EU top court
September 21, 2023
Germany must now pay fines after failing to establish special conservation areas, or create plans to maintain the protected habitats. The law aims to protect wild animals and plants and restore biodiversity.
Germany has been found to have violated an EU law on protecting natural habitatsImage: Markus Beck/imageBROKER/picture alliance
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The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Thursday that Germany had indeed violated an EU nature and conservation law by not sufficiently implementing a regulation to protect natural habitats.
The European Commission sued Germany back in 2021, as well as several other EU member states, for failing to abide by the EU directive.
Thursday's ECJ decision means Berlin now faces hefty fines. The ruling, however, did not detail exactly how high the fines would be.
What was the ECJ's ruling?
The argument of the European Commission was that Germany had not set a sufficient number of conservation targets.
The court agreed that Germany had failed to designate 88 out of 4,606 sites as special conservation areas in time.
Another 707 sites were lacking obligatory conservation targets as foreseen by the EU law.
The nature and conservation law seeks to protect and restore biodiversity by protecting the habitats of local flora and fauna. In recent years, the Commission has stepped up its enforcement of the bloc's environmental laws in an effort to combat climate change.
The court, however, disagreed with the Commission on several of its other complaints.
The ECJ has previously ruled against other member states over violating the conservation law. In 2019 and 2020, it ruled that Portugal and Greece respectively had not carried out their obligations in this area.
ab/rs (dpa, AFP)
Wolves in Germany: How public sentiment has flipped
Thousands of livestock farmers gathered in the northwestern town of Aurich as part of a "mega demo" against the strict protections on wolf populations in Germany.
Image: Lars Penning/dpa/picture alliance
'Mega demo' against wolves
According to police, around 3,000 livestock farmers and hunters gathered in the town of Aurich in the East Frisian region of Lower Saxony on June 10. The farmers say that current legislation means they are unable to protect their herds from attacks by wolves.
Image: Lars Penning/dpa/picture alliance
Existential threat to livelihoods
Farmers in the northwestern coastal region say their livelihoods are under threat from the growing wolf population, with attacks on sheep, goats, horses and other animals on the rise.
Image: Lars Penning/dpa/picture alliance
Thousands of attacks
The latest statistics from the Federal Documentation and Advice Center for Wolves (DBBW) show that the number of attacks has steadily risen over the last two decades to just under 3,500 in 2021 — with wolves responsible for killing just under 1,000 farm animals.
Image: Pablo Gianinazzi/Keystone/picture alliance
Back from extinction
Wolves were extinct in Germany for nearly a century until, post-German reunification, they began to migrate across the border from Poland. The German Farmers' Association estimates that the total number of wolves nationwide may rise to 2,700 in 2023.
Image: Bernd Thissen/dpa/picture alliance
Under strict protection
The return of wolves to Germany has long been a source of contention between livestock farmers and environmentalists. There are strict laws governing the conservation of wolves and individual animals be can only be shot under exceptional circumstances.
Image: Swen Pförtner/dpa/picture alliance
Call for 'wolf-pack free zones'
Hunters and farmers are calling for wolf pack-free zones along the coast due to the threat they pose to so-called "dike sheep." On the North Sea coast of Germany, a network of dikes helps protect the area from the sea and floods. The sheep that graze on the dikes help to compact the ground with their hooves.
Image: Dieter Moebus&Chromorange/picture alliance
Little Red Riding Hood
Wolves are polarizing German society: Some people would rather shoot them, others want to keep them safe at any cost. How we see wolves is influenced by literature and art — where the "big bad wolf" has frightened people in Germany for many centuries.
Image: Imago/United Archives
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