Vol. 525 No. 5
339 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands if, under a provision in the habitats directive, areas have been taken out of designation on socio-economic grounds; and, if so, the reason these grounds can be included in the appeals mechanism. [25827/00]
No areas have been removed from proposed SAC sites on socio-economic grounds, nor have these grounds been taken into account in considering appeals. In this regard, I refer the Deputy to the recent judgment of the European Court of Justice – Ref C-371/98 – in relation to the proposed designation of the Severn Estuary in Britain as an SAC, which states: "On a proper construction of Article 4(1) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, a Member State may not take account of economic, social and cultural requirements or regional or local characteristics, as mentioned in Article 2(3) of that Directive, when selecting and defining boundaries of the sites proposed to the Commission as eligible for identification as Sites of Community Importance".
