[Home] [Databases] [World Law] [Multidatabase Search] [Help] [Feedback] | ||
Court of Justice of the European Communities (including Court of First Instance Decisions) |
||
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Court of Justice of the European Communities (including Court of First Instance Decisions) >> Dimos Agios Nikolaos (Environment and consumers) [2010] EUECJ C-82/09 (22 April 2010) URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/EUECJ/2010/C8209.html Cite as: [2010] EUECJ C-82/09, [2010] EUECJ C-82/9 |
[New search] [Help]
(Regulation (EC) No 2152/2003 Monitoring of forests and environmental interactions in the European Union Definitions Terms 'forest' and 'other wooded land' Field of application)
In Case C-82/09,
REFERENCE for a preliminary ruling under Article 234 EC from the Simvoulio tis Epikratias (Greece), made by decision of 3 December 2008, received at the Court on 25 February 2009, in the proceedings
Dimos Agiou Nikolaou Kritis
v
Ipourgos Agrotikis Anaptixis kai Trofimon,
composed of J.-C. Bonichot (Rapporteur), President of the Chamber, C. Toader, K. Schiemann, P. Klūris and L. Bay Larsen, Judges,
Advocate General: N. Jääskinen,
Registrar: L. Hewlett, Principal Administrator,
having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 25 February 2010,
after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:
the Greek Government, by A. Vasilopoulou, G. Karipsiadis, V. Kontolaimos and I. Khalkias, acting as Agents,
the Italian Government, by G. Palmieri, acting as Agent, and L. Ventrella, avvocato dello Stato,
the European Commission, by A. Alcover San Pedro and M. Konstantinidis, acting as Agents,
having decided, after hearing the Advocate General, to proceed to judgment without an Opinion,
gives the following
Legal context
European Union law
'1. A Community scheme for broad-based, harmonised and comprehensive, long-term monitoring of the condition of forests (hereinafter referred to as 'the scheme') is hereby established to:
(a) continue and further develop:
monitoring of air pollution and air pollution effects and of other agents and factors that have an impact on forests, such as biotic and abiotic factors and factors of anthropogenic origin,
monitoring of forest fires and their causes and effects,
forest fire prevention;
(b) assess the requirements for and develop the monitoring of soils, carbon sequestration, climate change effects and biodiversity, as well as protective functions of forests;
(c) continuously evaluate the efficiency of the monitoring activities in the assessment of the condition of forests and the further development of monitoring activity.
The scheme shall provide reliable and comparable data and information on the condition of and harmful influences on forests at Community level. It shall also help to evaluate ongoing measures to promote conservation and protection of forests for the benefit of sustainable development, with particular emphasis on actions taken to reduce impacts negatively affecting forests. The scheme will take account of, and where appropriate link to, existing and planned national, European and global monitoring mechanisms and will be in line with relevant international agreements.'
'For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) 'forest' means land with tree crown cover (or equivalent stocking level) of more than 10% and area of more than 0.5 ha. The trees should be able to reach a minimum height of 5 m at maturity in situ. It may consist either of closed forest formations where trees of various storeys and undergrowth cover a high proportion of the ground, or of open forest formations with a continuous vegetation cover in which tree crown cover exceeds 10%. Young natural stands and all plantations established for forestry purposes which have yet to reach a crown density of 10% or tree height of 5 m are included under forest, as are areas normally forming part of the forest area which are temporarily unstocked as a result of human intervention or natural causes but which are expected to revert to forest. The definition of 'forest' includes: forest nurseries and seed orchards that constitute an integral part of the forest; forest roads, cleared tracts, firebreaks and other small open areas within the forest; forest in national parks, nature reserves and other protected areas such as those of special environmental, scientific, historical, cultural or spiritual interest; windbreaks and shelterbelts of trees with an area of more than 0.5 ha and a width of more than 20 m. Rubberwood plantations and cork oak stands are included. However, the definition of 'forest' excludes: land predominantly used for agricultural practices;
(b) 'other wooded land' means land either with a tree crown cover (or equivalent stocking level) of 5 to 10% of trees able to reach a height of 5 m at maturity in situ, or a crown cover (or equivalent stocking level) of more than 10% of trees not able to reach a height of 5 m at maturity in situ (e.g. dwarf or stunted trees) and shrub or bush cover. The definition of 'other wooded land' excludes: areas having the tree, shrub or bush cover specified above but of less than 0.5 ha and width of 20 m, which are classed under 'other land'; land predominantly used for agricultural practices;
...'
National law
'1. 'Forest' or 'forest ecosystem' means the organic whole of wild plants with woody trunk on the necessary area of ground which, together with the flora and fauna coexisting there, constitute via their mutual interdependence and interaction a particular biocoenosis (forest biocoenosis) and a particular natural environment (forest-based).
2. Wooded land exists when in the abovementioned whole the wild woody vegetation, whether high or undergrowth, is sparse.
3. The forest biocoenosis for the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2 exists and the forest-based environment is created in an area when:
I. wild woody plants grow in the said area which, when exploited, can produce forest products (forestry goods).
II. the surface area of the said area in which the above forest species grow thickly or sparsely must be at least 0.3 ha, with as rounded-off a geometric shape as possible or in a strip at least 30 metres wide. A forest biocoenosis can also exist and a forest-based environment be created on areas with a surface area of less than 0.3 ha when, because of their location, they are in a relationship of dependency and interaction with other neighbouring areas that constitute a forest or wooded land.
III. the crown of the forest species on a vertical projection cover at least 25% (0.25 canopy) of the land surface. Forest ecosystems are to be classified as forest or wooded land on the basis of the following criteria:
(a) if, in a biocoenosis as described above, the forest species have a clear vertical structure (layers) and the crowns cover more than 30% of the ground (canopy greater than 0.30), that land is to be regarded as forest, provided that the canopy of the upper layer is over 0.15 and, in the event that there is no lower layer, the canopy of the upper layer is over 0.25.
(b) if, in a biocoenosis as described above, the woody vegetation consists of evergreen or deciduous broad-leafed forestry species in the form of undergrowth, the land is to be classified as wooded land, provided that the crowns of those species cover over 25% of the land (canopy greater than 0.25).
(c) the definition of forest ecosystems includes land which has for any reason lost its forest vegetation and has not, before the entry into force of this Law, been assigned to other uses by administrative order. Such areas are governed by Article 117(3) of the Constitution, are to be declared to be required to be reforested, and retain the character they had before their destruction.
4. 'Wooded land' also means any type of open land areas (brushwood or grass-pasture lands, rocky prominences and open areas in general) that are surrounded by forests or wooded land, as well as mountain peaks or alpine zones above the forests or wooded land. Apart from interventions allowed in those areas pursuant to Article 13(2) of Law No 1734/1987 (FEK A 189) and Articles 45 to 61 of this Law, no other intervention is permissible. The areas specified in paragraph 6(a), (d) and (e) of the present article are not subject to the provisions of the present paragraph, even if they are surrounded by forests or wooded land.
5. Parks and small woods in towns or residential areas are also subject to the provisions of this Law, as is land that is declared or has been declared by an order of the competent authority to be required to be afforested or reforested.'
The dispute in the main proceedings and the questions referred for a preliminary ruling
'(1) Do the definitions of forest and wooded land in Article 3(a) and (b) of Regulation ... No 2152/2003 also apply to matters of protection and management in general of forest and wooded land as defined above, which matters are not expressly governed by the regulation but for which provision is made in the national legal order?
(2) If the answer to question 1 is in the affirmative, may the national legal order also define as forest or wooded land land that is not forest or wooded land under the definitions given in Article 3(a) and (b) of Regulation ... No 2152/2003?
(3) If the answer to question 2 is in the affirmative, can the definition that may be given by the national legal order of forest and wooded land so as to include land that does not constitute forest or wooded land under the definitions in Article 3(a) and (b) of Regulation ... No 2152/2003 differ from the definition in the above regulation both as to the constituent elements included in the definition of forest or wooded land by the regulation and as to the numerical determination of the dimensions of those elements that may be in common with the regulation? Alternatively, can that definition under the national legal order include constituent elements of the definition of forest or wooded land that are different from those included in the regulation's definition, while in the case of elements that it has in common with the regulation it is permitted not to determine them numerically and, if it does determine them numerically, it is precluded from deviating from the numerical determination under the regulation?'
Consideration of the questions referred
Admissibility
Substance
Costs
On those grounds, the Court (Fourth Chamber) hereby rules:
Article 3(a) and (b) of Regulation (EC) No 2152/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 November 2003 concerning monitoring of forests and environmental interactions in the Community (Forest Focus), which define, for the purposes of that regulation, the terms 'forest' and 'wooded land', must be interpreted as not precluding national provisions which contain different definitions of those terms as regards actions which are not governed by the regulation.
[Signatures]
* Language of the case: Greek.