BREXIT AND THE HABITATS REGULATIONS SUMMARY

The document discusses a legal challenge by ClientEarth and the Marine Conservation Society regarding the 2019 EU Exit Regulations. It highlights a High Court ruling that new powers to 'adapt' the national site network and requirements for 'proportionate' conservation status must not be used to undermine the Habitats Directive or water down environmental protections. It also addresses new wording regarding 'distinct' areas for aquatic species, asserting it should not be used to delay site designations.

• The High Court of England and Wales ruled that while the 2019 EU Exit Regulations are lawful, they cannot be used to perform actions that would have been unlawful under previous EU law, based on the Government's claim that new powers would be exercised according to existing EU and CJEU case law.
• The introduction of the power to 'where necessary adapt' the national site network in Regulation 16A(1) cannot be used to declassify, delimit, or downgrade Natura 2000 sites unless the strict process in Article 9 of the Habitats Directive and associated case law is followed; doing so would likely be 'ultra vires'.
• The phrase 'so far as is proportionate' added to the requirement to meet favourable conservation status must not be used to lower the standard of protection or change the effect of the Habitats Directive.
• Regulation 12(5) now requires that for aquatic species ranging over wide areas, a site must be 'distinct' in providing essential physical and biological factors to be of national importance; the Court accepted that this wording does not alter the legal meaning of the Regulations.

APA

ClientEarth (n.d.). BREXIT AND THE HABITATS REGULATIONS SUMMARY. https://www.clientearth.org/media/wjob4ysz/clientearth-mcs-briefing-on-the-conservation-of-habitats-and-species-amendment-eu-exit-regulations-2019-ce-en.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. BREXIT AND THE HABITATS REGULATIONS SUMMARY. n.d. https://www.clientearth.org/media/wjob4ysz/clientearth-mcs-briefing-on-the-conservation-of-habitats-and-species-amendment-eu-exit-regulations-2019-ce-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=BREXIT AND THE HABITATS REGULATIONS SUMMARY |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/wjob4ysz/clientearth-mcs-briefing-on-the-conservation-of-habitats-and-species-amendment-eu-exit-regulations-2019-ce-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearthndbrexit, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{BREXIT AND THE HABITATS REGULATIONS SUMMARY}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/wjob4ysz/clientearth-mcs-briefing-on-the-conservation-of-habitats-and-species-amendment-eu-exit-regulations-2019-ce-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }