The court of justice said Portugal had committed serious infringements of EU environmental law
Portugal has been fined €10m (£8.7m) by the EU’s court of justice for failing to comply with environmental laws that require it to protect biodiversity. It has also been ordered to pay €41,250 a day until it complies with a previous court order in 2019.
The court said it was imposing the maximum fine possible to “encourage” Portugal to bring the infringement to an end.
The daily fine corresponds to a penalty of €750 for each of the 55 sites that the court said had “still not been protected” despite having ordered Lisbon seven years ago to comply with EU laws. The fine will be reduced by €750 a day per site that is brought into compliance.
The court said in a statement: “The court considers that these are particularly serious infringements of EU environmental law, in which Portugal has persisted.
