ULTIMATUM: European Commission warns Romania it will face the European Court in a month over illegal logging

Bucharest, Brussels, 02.7.2020. The European Commission today called on the Romanian authorities to intervene urgently to stop the illegal logging of primary forests in protected areas.

In the final stage of infringement proceedings against Romania, the European Commission issued an ultimatum over the Romanian authorities’ systemic, continuing failure to protect some of Europe’s most valuable forests.

The ultimatum is the Romanian Government’s last chance to address the problem. If the authorities fail to intervene again, the European Commission will bring a case before the Court of Justice of the European Union, CJEU – Europe’s largest court.
The Commission’s intervention follows a series of complaints submitted by Agent Green, EuroNatur and Client Earth, which led to the launch of infringement proceedings against the Romanian authorities at the beginning of 2020.

Ewelina Tylec-Bakalarz, wildlife and habitats lawyer at ClientEarth, says: “The Commission’s ultimatum shows us that the Romanian Government is breaking European Union rules and calls on the authorities to take specific urgent measures to remedy the situation. If there is still no intervention, there is a major risk that Romania will be brought before Europe’s largest court. The importance of these forests cannot be underestimated, and the European Commission’s opinion shows us how serious the situation is.”

Romania holds two thirds of the last primary and old-growth forests in the temperate climate zone. These precious ecosystems, protected by European laws as Natura 2000 protected areas, are systematically destroyed by large-scale logging operations, without intervention by the Romanian authorities.

Gabriel Păun, president of Agent Green, says: “We are not surprised that the infringement proceedings are moving to the next level. Illegal logging and the destruction of Natura 2000 areas continue with the Environment Ministry’s approval. If Romania has to pay fines for breaking EU rules, it will do so with taxpayers’ money. This is not fair, and an equally ignorant attitude would be a profoundly irresponsible move by the state.”

Gabriel Schwaderer, executive director of EuroNatur, concludes: “We have clear confirmation from the European Commission that we must urgently protect Romania’s natural forests. We hope they will continue to act just as quickly so that we can stop the destruction of Romania’s forests.”

The European Commission has also opened another infringement case against Romania, calling on the authorities to fulfil their obligations to protect and manage Natura 2000 areas in accordance with the Habitats Directive.

See the information on the European Commission website.

Contact

• Agent Green: Catalina Radulescu, office@agentgreen.org, +40 740 161116
• EuroNatur: Anja Arning, anja.arning@euronatur.org, Tel.: +49 (0)7732 – 92 72 13
• ClientEarth: Bianca Vergnaud, bvergnaud@clientearth.org Tel: +32 (0)2 808 34 72

Background

• The PRIMOFARO inventory, an analysis by EuroNatur and AgentGreen, shows that destruction is advancing rapidly.
• Romania still has over 525 0000 hectares of potentially primary and old-growth forests, the most in Europe apart from Scandinavia
• Approximately 300,000 hectares of forests in Romania are listed as Natura 2000 protected areas