Filenews 8 August 2025 - by Angelos Nicolaou
The Republic of Cyprus is being led into a serious institutional crisis for environmental reasons, against the background of the systematic delays in the implementation of the European Union's environmental acquis, in relation to the protection and management of the areas of the Natura 2000 network. The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment (YGAAP) is accused by the environmental organizations Terra Cypria and BirdLife Cyprus of negligence, institutional inadequacy and breach of international and European commitments.
Despite the government's repeated commitments and the timetables it has set, the Republic of Cyprus has still not issued the necessary Protection and Management Decrees for the vast majority of the areas of the Natura 2000 Network, leaving the state exposed to the EU.
The case has now been referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union, while there is a risk of conviction, due to non-compliance with the relevant EU Directives (92/43/EEC for habitats and 2009/147/EC for wild birds).
According to the joint statement of the two organizations, the new strategy of the IASAP for "giving legal force to existing management plans", instead of issuing new Decrees, is problematic, impossible to implement and contrary to the requirements of the European Commission, which considers these plans obsolete and inadequate.
Of the 40 areas designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SPAs), only 10 are accompanied by Decrees, of which 5 are deemed inadequate. For the remaining 30 Special Protection Zones (SPAs), the draft Decrees have been pending for years.
The organizations recall that the Ministry's stance is in direct contradiction with the political commitments of the President of the Republic, as recorded in the Governance Program for the protection of nature and compliance with the European acquis.
Despite the relevant announcements for the full implementation of environmental legislation, the data of the Special Reports of the Audit Service reveal the inability of the state to respond. In the most recent report (August 5, 2025), it is noted that despite the assurances of the IASB, the obligations to the EU were not met, while the case was finally taken to the Court.
The infringement process began in 2016, with the EU's first request to the Cypriot authorities. In 2019, it had already been agreed to issue Decrees for all Natura 2000 sites by the end of that year, which was never implemented.
Since then, successive letters, reports, and legal opinions have documented the failure to comply. Even after the formal warning from the European Commission in 2021 and the 2022 Reasoned Opinion, progress has been almost zero.
The Audit Service in a 2024 report spoke of "systematic weaknesses and omissions" and called for institutional changes to ensure the protection of the Natura 2000 Network.
According to the YGAAS, the goal is to issue 27 Decrees by the end of 2025. However, environmental organisations and independent bodies believe that this new timetable will not be respected, while legal responsibility for the breach of EU law remains.
