The Associação de Defesa do Património Cultural e Ambiental do Algarve (Almargem) stated that the “sustantiated complaint” refers to the process of verifying the Relatório de Conformidade Ambiental do Projeto de Execução (RECAPE) of EN125 – Variante de Olhão, in the district of Faro.

At issue is the Portuguese State’s failure to comply with Council directive 92/43/EEC of May 21, 1992, regarding the preservation of natural habitats and wild fauna and flora.

The association added that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure “presented serious gaps in terms of identifying natural values”, considering they were “intentionally devalued”.

As maintained by Almargem, the evaluation “was devoid of content with regard to the description of ecological systems, a fact which resulted in the distortion of the conclusions and the content of the final decision”.

Furthermore, the environmental impact study “identified relevant natural values in terms of habitats and flora species” protected by the legal regime of the Rede Natura200/Diretiva Habitats.

Almargem recalled that during its participation in the Environmental Impact Assessment process, “the ignorance of the presence of natural values was noted and the protection of which is an obligation of the Portuguese State under the application of the habitats directive”.

Environmentalists concluded that “sufficient facts” were gathered to justify the complaint to the European Commission’s Environmental department, “which substantiate a situation of non-compliance” in a project included in the Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência (PRR).