Species in UK Law

In Commission v Finland C-344/03 [2005] ECR I-11033, it held that the derogation provisions should not be interpreted in such a way as to negate them. The phrase "no other satisfactory solution" was at issue. Finnish and Swedish legislation permitted hunting for certain duck species in the spring pursuant to the derogations in the previous Birds Directive.

Third, the derogation should be interpreted with the other objectives of the Directive in mind. Its application should be proportionate to the needs which justified it. The Directive balances the protection of species and certain leisure pursuits.

Mr Jarman accepts that an application for this licence could have been appropriately addressed to the Countryside Council for Wales under regulation 44(2)(c). What then would have been material considerations for the Council? The claimants would be seeking a licence to conserve a protected species because, in light of the planning permission, it is likely the species would otherwise be harmed.

His difficulty is that that does not answer the critical question: when does the negative impact become detrimental? The impact must be certain or real, it must be negative or adverse to the bats and it will be likely to be detrimental when it negatively or adversely effects the conservation status of the species.

I am satisfied that the loss of foraging habitat occasioned by cutting a swathe through the vegetation does not offend Article 12(1)(b) which is concerned with protection of the species not with conservation of the species' natural habitats. I am satisfied that that bald statement that the bats have to travel further and expend more energy in foraging does not justify a conclusion that the conservation status of the bats is imperilled or at risk.

For all these reasons, I am satisfied that there is no legal requirement that a screening assessment under Regulation 48(1) must be carried out in the absence of any mitigation measures that form part of a plan or project. On the contrary, the competent authority is required to consider whether the project, as a whole, including such measures, if they are part of the project, is likely to have a significant effect on the SPA.

The River Ribble rises in Yorkshire and flows into the Irish Sea between Lytham St Annes and Southport. The River Alt rises in Huyton and flows into the Irish Sea at the edge of the Mersey Estuary. Part of the Ribble Estuary was identified as a National Nature Reserve in 1979 and notified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in 1984. It was classified as special protection area under Council Directive 79/409/EEC in 1982.