Marine species protection and management in the European Union

The Habitats Directive ¹ provides the primary basis for regulatory action for cetacean conservation at a European level. The Council of Europe’s Bern Convention ² on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats also contains provisions to protect cetaceans in Europe. This chapter examines the scope and implementation of the legal mechanisms provided for in relation to cetaceans in both these instruments, including potential gaps and weaknesses. It argues that the Bern Convention is not being implemented properly in the EU in spite of being an integral part of EU law by virtue of Article 216(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This means that Member States that are not applying the Bern Convention properly are in breach of both international and EU law. The chapter suggests that a first step towards remedying this could be to implement the Habitats Directive in the light of Bern Convention requirements, and, in some cases, to amend the Habitats Directive to properly implement the provisions of the Bern Convention in the EU.