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REPowerEU Plan and protected species exemptions

BCTG Avocats

Published on 30 May 2022 at 15h53

Reading time 2 minutes

REPowerEU Plan and protected species derogations, what should we remember? Decrypted by our Energy department.

The main point to remember:

  • As part of the REPowerEU plan, the European Commission published on its website, on May 18, 2022, a recommendation and a proposal to amend Directive 2018/2001 of December 11, 2019 on renewable energy.
  • These texts provide for the identification, by Member States, of “areas suitable for the deployment of renewable energies” within which (i) projects will benefit from a presumption of absence of significant effects on the environment and (ii) compliance with appropriate mitigation measures by the various projects will allow for the presumption that projects comply with the prohibition regimes of the Birds and Habitats Directives.
  • Regardless of the area considered, as long as the petitioner provides for sufficient mitigation measures in his project and monitors their effectiveness, the damage to protected species will be presumed to be unintentional and should therefore not fall under the prohibition regime for protected species and habitats, and thus the petitioner would not be required to request the granting of a “protected species exemption”.
  • The planning, construction, and operation of renewable energy generation facilities, the connection of such facilities to the electricity, gas, and heat grid and related network, and storage facilities will be presumed to be in the overriding public interest and public safety interest and will receive the most favorable of their planning and permitting procedures.


Read the full memo here

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