91In that regard, it is important to note, first, that in its judgment of 21 June 2018, Commission v Malta (C‑557/15, EU:C:2018:477), the Court insisted on ‘the region to which the derogation applies during its period of application’. Secondly, the contested authorisations do not concern the protected species on migration but, rather, the birds from that species at the time they start to breed and, thus, at a time when they are stationary. In that regard, Article 1(2) of the Birds Directive specifies that the latter ‘shall apply to birds, their eggs, nests and habitats’. Thirdly, EU legislation on the conservation of wild birds must be interpreted in the light of the precautionary principle, which is one of the foundations of the high level of protection aimed at by EU policy on the environment, as provided for in the first paragraph of Article 191(2) TFUE (order of the President of the Court of 10 December 2009, Commission v Italy, C‑573/08 R, not published, EU:C:2009:775, paragraph 24 and the case-law cited, and order of 20 November 2017, Commission v Poland, C‑441/17 R, EU:C:2017:877, paragraphs 42 and 61). Consequently, that principle requires avoiding an overestimation of the number of birds available for exploitation and using calculation methods that make it possible with certainty to stay below the threshold in the order of 1%.
Source: EUR-Lex, © European Union, 1998-2026. Reuse authorised under Decision 2011/833/EU.