Some legal aspects of European Union policy on biodiversity and the protection of nature

Abstract

Under pressure to protect the natural environment the European Community in 1973 adopted its First Action Programme for the protection of wild life. Later programmes were more ambitious and detailed and through funding made possible the conservation and rehabilitation of sensitive and important biotopes. The strict protective measures take~ and the emphasis on the setting of priority natural habitats is commendable. The Community signed, and later ratified the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity. This international Convention was weakened when certain important principles, such as the precautionary principle, and the principle that a state is responsible for the damage it causes to biodiversity were deleted. It tries to bridge the North-South divide by fostering the transfer of technology and of Intellectual Property Rights from the developed to the developing countries. The USA objected to this as it considered it a threat to its biotechnology industry. The Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds is another important topic discussed in this Dissertation. This Directive is very detailed and tries to protect nature and biodiversity. It prohibits the wholesale killing and the capture of birds and permits derogations to the killing of certain bird species which are widely distributed in the Community. The hunting of these species is strictly controlled. Numerous cases were brought before the Court for infringements of the Directive especially by Southern Member States. The Community made great strides in the legislation it enacted to protect livestock. The first piece of legislation in this field was enacted in 1974. It dealt with the slaughter of animals. Other legislation dealing with the transport of animals soon followed. The last piece of legislation dealt with regard to the protection of livestock was Directive 86/113/EEC. It dealt with the minimum standards of protection afforded to laying hens kept in battery cages. The last topic dealt with was the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes. The relevant legislation in this area is covered by Directive 86/609/EEC. Under Community law such animals are to be treated as humanely as possible. The Directive encourages the exchange of experimental results amongst Member States to avoid needless duplication of experiments and thus harm to experimental animals.