European Commission

IP/00/69

Brussels, 21 January 2000

Wild birds: the Commission terminates the infringement proceedings against France

The Commission has decided to drop the action it brought before the Court of Justice to enforce the 1988 judgment finding that France had not transposed the Directive on the conservation of wild birds, France having adopted measures in 1999 which guarantee the protection of all species of wild bird. The case was originally referred to the Court on 16 October 1998, the Commission calling for a financial penalty of €105 500 per day to be imposed on France.

In 1998 the Commission decided to bring a case against France before the Court of Justice under Article 171 of the Treaty (Article 228 since the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty on 1 May 1999). France had failed to comply with a previous Court judgment concerning the transposition of the protective arrangements laid down in Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds. The Commission proposed that the Court of Justice impose on France a daily penalty payment of €105 500 for failure to comply with this judgment, dating from April 1988. The Court registered the case on 16 October 1998.

The French authorities informed the Court and the Commission of the decree of 5 March 1999. This regulatory instrument improved matters to some extent, in that it provided for the protection of 71 additional species (in particular the ortolan bunting, an endangered species traditionally, but illegally, hunted in France).

However, transposition was still not complete, as French law did not yet cover all species. Nonetheless, on the basis of this development the Commission decided on 2 June 1999 to reduce the penalty payment which it had asked the Court to impose to €26 375 per day; following the decree of 5 March 1999, the gravity of the infringement had to be reassessed (under Article 228, the Commission specifies the amount of the penalty payment).

The French authorities finally informed the Commission and the Court of an amending decree dated 16 June 1999, published in the French Government Gazette on 25 July. It would appear that all the species of wild birds concerned are now integrated into the decree protecting birds in France; the infringement has thus been terminated.

Whilst the Commission regrets that it has taken France twenty years to transpose the Directive, it welcomes this important development.

This case shows the Commission's determination to enforce Community law and the effectiveness of infringement proceedings. Other actions brought by the Commission against France are still before the Court of Justice, including the case concerning the dates on which wild birds can be hunted.