doc__table__135

| 118. | The second sentence of the first paragraph of Annex I refers to the determination of adverse changes by reference to measurable data, providing examples. This sentence serves to underline that adverse effects concern measurable adverse changes and impairments. The data relates to both the specific areas and populations affected and the species and habitat types concerned more generally. This implies a role for both site-specific and population-specific information and information of a more general character (such as that found in scientific literature, for instance): — The first indent refers to ‘the number of individuals, their density or the area covered’. For protected species, this can encompass both the number of specimens killed or the number of specimens that have suffered harm or other detriment. For habitats, the area covered can encompass the habitats of protected species, breeding sites and resting places, and habitats listed in Annex I to the Habitats Directive, and can relate to habitat loss, habitat deterioration and impairment of the services these habitats provide; — The second indent has a comparative purpose and aims at relating the specimens and area affected with the wider conservation of the species and habitats concerned. The reference to assessment at local, regional and higher level resonates with the reference to European and Member State territories and natural range in the definition of ‘conservation status’. Assessment and determination of significance need to be meaningful at the local level. References to the national and European levels provide an additional orientation to enable specimens and habitats to be placed in different geographical contexts. It does not mean that adverse effects have to be demonstrated at the national and European levels; — The third indent focuses on the capacity for recovery of the species and habitats affected. Clearly, these may vary. Some habitats have abiotic features which cannot regenerate. An example is the limestone pavement which featured in Case C-258/11, Sweetman (127) and which was identified as threatened with permanent destruction in the context of an assessment process under the Habitats Directive. Such a situation of permanent loss could conceivably arise with regard to the Environmental Liability Directive; — The fourth indent focuses on a time factor, and is closely related to the third indent. The references to a ‘short time’ and to an absence of intervention allows for the possibility that a species or habitat may recover quickly of its own accord. It is to be stressed, however, that this is in relation to the baseline condition. The specifics of the area and population affected must therefore be taken into account. It cannot be excluded, for instance, that local factors may result in recovery taking longer than might be the case elsewhere. What constitutes a ‘short time’ is not defined, but the expression implies that the species or habitat must at least have the capacity for rapid recovery. Species with long reproduction cycles and habitats that are slow to form will not have such a capacity.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.