Natura 2000: Bulgaria´s park ‘on paper’

Abstract

The ‘Natura 2000’ network derives from the [EU] ‘Birds and Habitats’ Directives and is the centerpiece of the European Union’s nature and biodiversity conservation policy. Many Member States, however, have failed to comply or behave in a way that is consistent with the legislative objectives in the two Directives. Unfortunately, there has been little academic research conducted on this final stage of implementation to explain why the targets of EU policy do or do not behave consistently with the objectives of the policy. This research provides answers to this important question through an in-depth case study analysis of Bulgaria’s deviant ‘Case of Wind Turbines in Coastal Dobruzha’. The case study is timely, as in January 2016 the European Court of Justice ruled against the Bulgarian state in the case brought by the European Commission.