Legal and administrative prerequisites for the implementation of Directive 92/43 in Greece; introductory reflections and comments

Abstract

Council Directive 92/43 attempts to create a wide ecological network of protected areas in Europe, principally aiming at the lasting conservation of the common European natural heritage. The functional integration in national law of this European Community legal text, whose application involves, in one way or another, the covering of almost 18% of the total geographical area of Greece, is a painstaking task. The need of a correct harmonization of Greek Law with the Directive, the balanced use of command-and-control and contractual approaches, the choice of the proper administrative tools for the management and organization of protected areas, and conflict management between property rights and the protection of the environment are the key prerequisites to activate the "Natura 2000" network. The achievement of this aim is expected to cover to an important extent, on one hand the current legislative policy deficit on environmental management issues and on the other hand the correlation of environmental protection with the need for sustainable development of the Greek area.