22.12.2014

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 462/16

(Case C-461/14)

(2014/C 462/25)

Language of the case: Spanish

Parties

Applicant: European Commission (represented by: G. Wilms y D. Loma-Osorio Lerena, Agents)

Defendant: Kingdom of Spain

Form of order sought

—Declare that the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under (i) Article 3 of Directive 85/337/EEC (1) amended by Directives 97/11/EC (2) and 2003/35 (3) on the assessment of the environmental impact of certain public and private projects, (ii) Article 4(4) of Directive 2009/147/EC (4) on the conservation of wild birds — until 29 July 2008, the date of designation of the location in question as a special protection area for birds (SPA) — and (iii) Article 6(2) of Directive 92/43/EC (5) on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, from the date of that designation;

—order the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The present case concerns the project for a new high-speed railway line between Seville and Almería, Sections ‘Marchena-Osuna I’, ‘Marchena-Osuna II’ and ‘Variante de Osuna’, and the possibility that the Spanish authorities have failed to apply correctly relevant provisions of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, the Wild Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive. The Commission has reached that conclusion having particular regard to the potential effects of the works and the subsequent operation of Andalusia’s crossrail line where it passes through the ‘Campiñas de Sevilla’ special protection area for birds (SPA), taking the view that those effects have not been adequately addressed.

(1) Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (OJ 1985 L 175, p. 40).

(2) OJ 1997 L 73, p. 5.

(3) Directive 2003/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 providing for public participation in respect of the drawing up of certain plans and programmes relating to the environment and amending with regard to public participation and access to justice Council Directives 85/337/EEC and 96/61/EC (OJ 2003 L 156, p. 17).

(4) Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds (OJ 2009 L 20, p. 7).

(5) Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (OJ 1992 L 206, p. 7).