Judgment_paragraph 45 · European Commission v Ireland (C-444/21)

45The procedure governing the designation of sites as special areas of conservation, as provided for in Article 4 of the Habitats Directive, consists of four stages. Under Article 4(1) of that directive, each Member State proposes a list of sites indicating the natural habitat types and native species they host and that list is transmitted to the Commission (first stage). Under Article 4(2), the Commission establishes, in agreement with each Member State, a draft list of sites of Community importance drawn from the Member States’ lists (second stage). On the basis of that draft list, the Commission adopts the list of selected sites (third stage). Under Article 4(4), once a site of Community importance has been adopted, the Member State concerned designates it as a special area of conservation as soon as possible and within six years at most, establishing priorities in the light of the importance of the sites for the maintenance or restoration, at a favourable conservation status, of a natural habitat type or species and for the coherence of Natura 2000 (fourth stage) (see, to that effect, judgment of 12 June 2019, CFE, C‑43/18, EU:C:2019:483, paragraph 37).