{"id":6488,"date":"2024-04-02T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T05:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=6488"},"modified":"2024-04-02T08:00:42","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T05:00:42","slug":"auditor-general-calls-for-accountability-over-natura-2000-mess-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=6488","title":{"rendered":"Auditor-general calls for accountability over Natura 2000 mess-up"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/auditor-general-calls-for-accountability-over-natura-2000-mess-up.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p>Auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides on Monday called on the agriculture ministry to explain itself, following Cyprus\u2019 referral to an EU court over failures to implement the Habitats Directive in environmentally protected Natura 2000 areas.<\/p>\n<div class=\"cypru-video-ads\" id=\"cypru-1899669112\">\n<div id=\"cypru-958903960\" data-cypru-trackid=\"478051\" data-cypru-trackbid=\"1\" class=\"cypru-target\">\n<div id=\"gpt-ad-1505311884994-0\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In a letter, the Audit Office called for officials to be held accountable in the issues raised by the European Commission.<br \/>\nMichaelides added he expected the minister\u2019s comments, as well as \u201cinformation on whether there will be final accountability taken by those who brought our country to this predicament\u201d.<br \/>\nAccording to the letter, Michaelides informed the minister that the Audit Office had addressed the former agriculture minister Costas Kadis three years ago about the same topic.<br \/>\nHe said that despite the former minister\u2019s assurances that there were no grounds for concern and that all measures were taken to avoid further proceedings, the matter ended up before the Court of Justice of the European Union.<br \/>\nAccording to Michaelides, indicative of the obstructionism observed is that in the period between his warning in 2021, only ten conservation objectives decrees were issued on the subject, \u201chalf of which were considered by the European Commission to be inadequate\u201d.<br \/>\n\u201cUnfortunately, it appears that, once again, our office\u2019s warnings have been ignored and its concerns have been confirmed,\u201d the letter said.<br \/>\nIn mid-March the\u00a0<strong>European Commission referred Cyprus to the EU Court of Justice<\/strong>\u00a0(ECJ) due to its failure to fulfil obligations under the Habitats Directive, which aims to protect over a thousand animal and plant species in the EU.<br \/>\nAccording to the European Commission, Cyprus has designated 37 sites as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).<br \/>\nHowever, conservation measures for\u00a0<strong>28 of these sites have not been established and the conservation objectives for five sites are deemed inadequate, leaving species and habitats vulnerable.<\/strong><br \/>\nDespite some progress regarding SAC designation,\u00a0<strong>Cyprus has not adequately addressed the concerns raised by the commission, leading to the referral to the ECJ.<\/strong><br \/>\nResponding to the developments in mid-March, the agriculture ministry said since the case opened, the government \u201chas been in constant contact with EU authorities\u201d and kept the commission informed at all times over Cyprus\u2019 legal framework for environmental protection.<br \/>\nWith the new minister\u2019s appointment a few months ago, working groups between different government departments were set up \u201cfor the first time\u201d with specific timetables to complete the framework on managing the Natura 2000 sites.<br \/>\nThe Habitats Directive is a crucial component of European biodiversity protection legislation, mandating the establishment of Natura 2000, an extensive EU-wide network of protected natural areas comprising SACs and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for birds.<br \/>\nAccording to European law, member states identify and propose sites crucial for the conservation of native species and habitats, which are subsequently adopted as Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) by the commission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fact: Cyprus has been referred to the EU Court of Justice by the European Commission for failures to implement the Habitats Directive in environmentally protected Natura 2000 areas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1701,764,4446,4617,972,240,1749,3910,2460,2577,4098,932,1842,3,1987,379,1575,1841,2404,250,3330,415,1748,2796,582,2685,3443,1951,1989,3331,3045,243,4593,3840,4448],"class_list":["post-6488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-accountability","tag-agriculture","tag-agriculture-minister","tag-agriculture-ministry","tag-audit-office","tag-auditor-general","tag-biodiversity-protection","tag-birds","tag-community","tag-concerns","tag-conservation","tag-court","tag-court-of-justice-of-the-european-union","tag-cyprus","tag-environmental-protection","tag-eu","tag-eu-court-of-justice","tag-european-commission","tag-european-union","tag-google","tag-google-news","tag-government","tag-habitats-directive","tag-issues","tag-justice","tag-legislation","tag-member-states","tag-natura-2000","tag-natura-2000-sites","tag-news","tag-objectives","tag-odysseas-michaelides","tag-office","tag-progress","tag-protection"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- 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