The Paul de Arzila and the Protection of Natural Heritage

Abstract

The protection of wild habitats by the Member States of the European Union is fundamental, since “the management of the common heritage is entrusted, within their territory, to the respective Member States.” Thus, if the rules for managing the common heritage must be harmonized and their application necessarily uniform, clarifying the meaning of a European norm that determines the protection of habitats both inside and outside Special Protection Areas becomes crucial. A deficiency in the translation of the directive into the Portuguese version may be leading, in theory and in practice, to a failure to fulfill the duty to protect “our” portion of the common heritage.