If authorities want to designate a special protection area within the meaning of the European Habitats Directive, in which certain human activities are generally prohibited, they do not always have to carry out an environmental assessment beforehand. This is the result of a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) following a referral from Germany (Ref.: C-461/23 of 17.10.2024). The designation of a protected area and the listing of activities that are prohibited there do not fall under the term „plans and programmes“, for which an environmental assessment is mandatory under the Directive. Furthermore, the designation of a protected area is directly linked to or necessary for the management of the area. Therefore, the environmental assessment could also be waived, according to the ECJ.

The contact persons for all legal questions relating to environmental and climate protection in our practice are the lawyers Janko Geßner, Prof Dr Jan Thiele and Tobias Roß.