Brussels understands that efforts are “unsatisfactory and insufficient”. ICNF has already completed the plan and is waiting for approval.
The European Commission will proceed with a court action against Portugal for lack of measures to prevent and manage the introduction and spread of invasive alien species. The Ministry of the Environment guarantees that the proposed action plan is ready, but environmentalists regret the delay.
The regulation came into force on January 1, 2015 and gave countries a three-year deadline to devise an action plan to deal with the most important routes of introduction and spread of 88 invasive alien species that raise the most “concern” ( read examples on the side sheet). The European Commission explains that, last year, it notified Portugal and other countries, and some fulfilled their obligations. However, the efforts of the Portuguese authorities, as well as those of Bulgaria, Ireland, Greece, Italy and Latvia, were considered “unsatisfactory and insufficient”, which is why it decided to file actions before the Court of Justice of the European Union.