European Court of Justice Rules Poland Violated EU Law by Logging Forest (April 17, 2018) [1]
On April 17, 2018, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice for the European Union ruled [3] in Commission v. Poland that Poland’s logging of the Puszcza Białowieska Natura 2000 site violated the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive under European Union law. According to the press release [4], the European Commission calls the site “one of the best preserved natural forests in Europe, characterised by large quantities of old trees, in particular trees a century old or more, and dead wood,” and in 2007 the Commission designated it as a “site of Community importance” due to the habitats of certain species of animals and birds on the land. The Court held that Poland had not fulfilled its obligations arising from the Habitats and Birds Directives when it “failed to ascertain that [] forest management measures would not adversely affect the integrity of the Puszcza Białowieska” before it greatly increased timber harvesting in the forest areas and conducted active forest management operations where such actions were previously precluded. The Court upheld the Commission’s action against Poland in its entirety.