The Natura 2000 Directives are the very cornerstone of European Union nature conservation policy which create a considerably stricter environmental protection regime than national laws do. The member states, however, have failed to implement the Directives even despite strong pressure from the European Commission. Reinhard Slepcevic shows how French, German, and Dutch environmental organisations try to enforce the Directives through national courts, though with varied success. The author explains the situation by arguing that it will only be possible to enforce EU law effectively through litigation under particular conditions. The consequences, not only for private judicial law enforcement but also for European integration and democratic governance, are significant.

This book is essential reading for researchers and students from the social sciences, in particular sociology and political science, as well as for practitioners in the field of environmental protection.

Vorwort
EU Law, National Courts and Socio-Legal Reality

Autorentext
Dr. Reinhard Slepcevic completed his doctoral thesis at the Department of Government at the University of Vienna. He subsequently held a position as a researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. In September 2008, he became a Max Weber Fellow at the Law Department of the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Zusammenfassung
This book is the result of doctoral studies that I started in October 2004. At the outset, I only knew that I wanted to work on interest groups and litigation in the context of the European Union. At that time, I would not have believed that I would find myself some time later touring half Western Europe to interview environmental organisations, nor that I would read French, German and Dutch court rulings on the protection of endangered species whose names were completely unknown to me. Yet I never regretted my choice of topic, and hopefully the following chapters will convince the reader that it is indeed a topic that merits our attention. I would not have been able to cope with all the pitfalls of a long research project without the strong and enduring support of my friends and colleagues. Both personally and academically, I have profited enormously from my three years as a doctoral student at the department of political science at the Institute for Advanced Studies (Institut für Höhere Studien) in Vienna, Austria. I am very much indebted to Gerda Falkner, Oliver Treib, Sylvia Kritzinger and Irina Michalowitz for organising such a great programme which allowed me and my colleagues to engage in intensive discussions with outstanding academic scholars such as Alec Stone-Sweet, Paul Pierson, James Caporaso, Frank Schimmelfennig, Klaus Goetz, Andrea Lenschow, Katharina Holzinger and Hellen Wallace.

Inhalt
The Interest in the Judicial Enforcement of EU Law.- Theoretical Approach.- Methodological Approach.- The Natura 2000 Directives.- France.- Germany.- The Netherlands.- Conclusion.