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Managing Natura 2000 Sites – the Provisions of Article 6 Of Managing Natura 2000 sites The provisions of Article 6 of the ‘Habitats’ Directive 92/43/EEC Environment Commission Notice C(2018) 7621 final, Brussels, 21.11.2018 Managing Natura 2000 sites – The provisions of Article 6 of the ‘Habitats’ Directive 92/43/EEC https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1548663172672&uri=CELEX:52019 XC0125(07) Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use that might be made of the following information. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2019 © European Union, 2019 Reuse is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. The reuse policy of European Commission documents is regulated by Decision 2011/833/EU (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39). For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under the EU copyright, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders. Print ISBN 978-92-79-98623-9 doi:10.2779/854571 KH-06-18-414-EN-C PDF ISBN 978-92-79-98560-7 doi:10.2779/02245 KH-06-18-414-EN-N Getting in touch with the EU In person All over the European Union there are hundreds of Europe Direct information centres. You can find the address of the centre nearest you at: https://europa.eu/european-union/contact_en On the phone or by email Europe Direct is a service that answers your questions about the European Union. You can contact this service: • by freephone: 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (certain operators may charge for these calls), • at the following standard number: +32 22999696 or • by email via: https://europa.eu/european-union/contact_en Finding information about the EU Online Information about the European Union in all the official languages of the EU is available on the Europa website at: https://europa.eu/european-union/index_en EU publications You can download or order free and priced EU publications at: https://publications.europa.eu/en/publications Multiple copies of free publications may be obtained by contacting Europe Direct or your local information centre (see https://europa.eu/european-union/contact_en). EU law and related documents For access to legal information from the EU, including all EU law since 1952 in all the official language versions, go to EUR-Lex at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu Open data from the EU The EU Open Data Portal (http://data.europa.eu/euodp/en) provides access to datasets from the EU. Data can be downloaded and reused for free, both for commercial and non-commercial purposes. Cover photo: © Benoit Stichelbaut/naturepl.com Managing Natura 2000 sites The provisions of Article 6 of the ‘Habitats’ Directive 92/43/EEC Contents Foreword ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................5 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................................7 1.1. Place within the overall scheme of the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive as well as within a wider context ....................................................................................................................................................................7 1.2. Relation with Protection of Species Chapter ..........................................................................................................................9 1.3. Putting article 6 into national law: the duty of transposition ...................................................................................10 1.4. Time of application of article 6: From which date do the obligations of article 6 apply? .......................10 1.4.1. Special Protection Areas under the Birds Directive ............................................................................................10 1.4.2. Sites under the Habitats Directive ................................................................................................................................11 2. Article 6(1) .......................................................................................................................................................................................................15 2.1. Text .................................................................................................................................................................................................................15 2.2. Scope ............................................................................................................................................................................................................15 2.3. What should be the content of the ‘necessary conservation measures’? .........................................................16 2.3.1. Setting site-level conservation objectives ...............................................................................................................16 2.3.2. Establishing the necessary conservation measures .........................................................................................18 2.3.3. The ecological requirements ............................................................................................................................................20 2.4. What form can the necessary conservation measures take? ...................................................................................21 2.4.1. Management plans .................................................................................................................................................................21 2.4.2. Statutory, administrative or contractual measures ...........................................................................................22 3. Article 6(2) .......................................................................................................................................................................................................25 3.1. Text .................................................................................................................................................................................................................25 3.2. Scope ............................................................................................................................................................................................................25 3.3. What does ‘take appropriate steps to avoid…’ mean? ...................................................................................................27 3.4. Does implementation differ for deterioration and disturbance? .............................................................................28 3.5. Indicators of deterioration and disturbance .........................................................................................................................29 3.5.1. Deterioration of habitat types and habitats of species ..................................................................................29 3.5.2. Disturbance of species .........................................................................................................................................................30 4. Article 6(3) .......................................................................................................................................................................................................33 4.1. Text .................................................................................................................................................................................................................33 4.2. Scope ............................................................................................................................................................................................................33 4.3. The relationship between Article 6(2) and Article 6(3) .................................................................................................34 4.4. What is meant by ‘plan or project not directly connected with or necessary to the management of the site’? ................................................................................................................................................................................................35 4.4.1. Project .............................................................................................................................................................................................35 4.4.2. Plan...................................................................................................................................................................................................36 4.4.3. Not directly connected with or necessary to the management … ...........................................................38 4.5. How to determine whether a plan or project is ‘likely to have a significant effect’ on a site, ‘either individually or in combination with other plans or projects’? .....................................................................39 4.5.1. Likely to have … .......................................................................................................................................................................39 4.5.2. Significant effect ......................................................................................................................................................................40
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