European Union Case Law on the Birds and Habitats Directives

The case law on the Birds and Habitats Directives has grown enormously, making it a challenging task to write a comprehensive book on the topic, requiring expertise, time, and perseverance. The authors, directors in the DG Environment of the European Commission, have succeeded in providing an excellent analysis of case law concerning the two Directives. In the rapidly growing body of case law on the Nature Directives over the past 30 years, it is important to see the forest for the trees. The authors, as directors in the DG Environment of the European Commission, are well positioned to do so, offering the reader an excellent analysis of case law concerning the Birds and Habitats Directives. As such, this book comes highly recommended for those professions working with these Directives.— Geert Van Hoorick – Comnon Market Law Review issue 3/2025

This history provides a key for unlocking the unique value of this excellent new book by Nina Claudia Miron and Liam Cashman, current and former officials of DG Environment of the European Commission (respectively), with Liam Cashman a recent retiree, having joined DG Environment in 1988. Both Miron and Cashman are ex-case handlers with DG Environment, entailing significant experience at the coalface of EU environmental enforcement.

What differentiates this book from existing work in the field is, first, its truly comprehensive and systematic coverage of the EU case law in respect of habitats and species conservation. Every reader will gain valuable new insights here.

Second, having worked on these issues in practice for many years for the European Commission, the authors are able to provide a unique insider perspective. This is not to say, of course, that the book gives away any ‘trade secrets’ as such. Rather, it implies that working on issues and cases in practice for a regulator such as the Commission enables the development of a deep well of knowledge that permits a particularly rich analysis of the caselaw.

Third, this EU regulator's perspective allows the authors to write authoritatively about subjects that others who work in the field likely engage with less frequently or less comprehensively in practice, such as the Commission's enforcement work, procedures for applying to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), access to justice, and an overview of the challenges addressed or influenced by the CJEU in this area. As the authors put it, the CJEU's case law can be examined in ‘“close up” [but it] can also be viewed from a wider angle […] and assessed as to how it has addressed a number of broader challenges’ (at 253). Uniquely, this book does both very well.

And fourth, the authors have been able to draw linkages between the Nature Directives and diverse other areas of environmental law and policy, drawing on the full breadth of their extensive experience in practice.

 In summary, the depth and breadth of the knowledge and analysis condensed and provided by Miron and Cashman in this essential new book is unrivalled. The book certainly deserves a place on the bookshelves of all those who are active in this field. For academics, the book fills a gap by providing a comprehensive overview of the CJEU's case law across both species protection and habitat conservation under the Birds and Habitats Directives. It therefore represents an excellent reference text for those researching or writing on EU nature conservation law and related topics. Similarly, for practitioners, the book will be a valuable first port of call for those acting in cases that raise issues under the Directives. The book has been written accessibly, such that lawyers unfamiliar with the Directives will be able to bring themselves quickly up to speed, whilst those who are interested in very specific points of law under the Directives will be able to rapidly identify any relevant decisions of the CJEU. With Miron and Cashman's extensive knowledge and experience condensed within the pages of this book, and with the linkages they have been able to draw between the Habitats and Birds Directives and diverse other areas of EU policy and law, the book will be an invaluable companion to those seeking to make strategic, creative use of these Directives in their future conservation work. — Andrew Jackson, UCD Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law (RECIEL), 2025;1–3.