Acvila de munte și parcurile eoliene. Și, puțin, despre legea penală mai favorabilă

One of the cases discussed in the first semester with master’s students, as part of the course on “Criminal Liability of Legal Entities,” concerns the death of a golden eagle (the bird featured on Romania’s coat of arms) following a collision with a wind turbine blade—an incident that occurred in France in 2023 (and in previous years as well).

𝐅𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐞 𝐬̦𝐢 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐥

In January 2023, a golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos—as identified in various foreign and even national regulations), which was flying at 50 km/h in the vicinity of the Bernagues wind farm (in the northern part of the Hérault department), collided with a turbine blade and died.

The eagle was the breeding male of a pair of this species that had a nest nearby. He was fitted with a GPS tracker, and the wind farm had a bird detection system designed to shut down the turbines, but it malfunctioned, according to a report by the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB).

A similar incident had occurred in 2017. Furthermore, in a nearby park in Aumelas, between 2017 and 2021, over 160 birds of protected species were found dead, including some small falcons known as lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni), a species threatened with extinction.

Several civil proceedings have been brought regarding the wind farms in Hérault that were constructed in special protection areas within the meaning of Directive 2009/147/EC (the Birds Directive).

Thus, in a 2022 decision by the Court of Cassation, Third Civil Chamber (link 1), the decision of the Versailles Court of Appeal was upheld, in which an environmental association (FNE) was awarded compensation for non-pecuniary damages for the destruction of protected falcon species between 2011 and 2016, despite the installation, by EDF and its subsidiaries, of bird detection systems (DT-Bird).

In 2023, the Court of Appeal in Nîmes ordered the dismantling of seven wind turbines in the same area (link 2).

𝐀𝐜𝐮𝐳𝐚𝐭̦𝐢𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐞

With regard to criminal proceedings (link 3), in two separate cases heard during the same period, the companies operating the wind farms were indicted:

– regarding the falcons that died between 2017 and 2021, EDF Renouvelables and nine of its subsidiaries, as well as its former CEO. The proceedings were initiated following a direct summons by the FNE association (see link 4 for a description of these proceedings);

– for the eagle that died in 2023, ERL (a subsidiary of the Valeco Group), along with the group’s CEO.

The offense at issue in both cases is the destruction of protected species, as provided for in Article 415-3 of the Environmental Code (link 5).

𝐇𝐨𝐭𝐚̆𝐫𝐚̂𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐥𝐮𝐢 𝐝in Montezuma

On April 7, 2025, in the case concerning the death of the falcons, the Montpellier Court ruled:

– the sentencing of the former CEO of EDF Renouvelables to a six-month suspended prison term and a €100,000 fine, of which €30,000 is suspended;

– EDF Renouvelables and its nine subsidiaries were each fined €500,000, of which €250,000 was suspended, for a total of €5 million, of which €2.5 million was suspended;

– a four-month suspension of all activities at the Aumelas wind farm, with provisional (immediate) enforcement;

– publication of the court ruling, at the defendants’ expense, in the newspapers Le Monde, Midi Libre, and Reporterre;

– ordering the defendants to pay €114,000 each in compensation for non-pecuniary damages to FNE and FNE OCMED (the amount to be divided between the companies based on the mortality caused by the impact of their wind turbines), plus €2,000 in court costs for each defendant;

– an order to pay €74,087 to the FNE for ecological damage, an amount that will be specifically allocated to the National Action Plan for the protection of the species in question (lesser kestrel); regarding ecological damage, see Art. 1247 et seq. of the French Criminal Code.

The defendants filed an appeal against this ruling, and the prosecutor and associates filed a cross-appeal (see link 6 for details about the falcons).

Two days later, the same court ruled, in the case of the golden eagle’s death (link 7):

– ordering ERL to pay a fine of €200,000, of which €100,000 is suspended;

– the group leader was ordered to pay a fine of €40,000, of which €20,000 was suspended;

– the suspension, for one year, of operations at the Bernagues wind farm;

– payment of €35,000 to the associations that had joined the proceedings as civil parties as compensation for damages, €3,000 for environmental remediation, and €1,000 each for legal costs.

An appeal was filed against this decision.

𝐇𝐨𝐭𝐚̆𝐫𝐚̂𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐭̦𝐢𝐢 𝐝𝐞 𝐀𝐩𝐞𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐳𝐮𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐢 𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞

This final appeal was heard on February 5, 2026, by the Montpellier Court of Appeals.

The court decided to acquit the two defendants, given that, by 2025, the offense under the Environmental Code had been amended such that, for it to constitute a crime, intent or gross negligence is required, and simple negligence is not sufficient. The law had been criticized at the time of its adoption, with critics arguing that it represented a step backward in terms of biodiversity protection (link .

𝐃𝐚𝐜𝐚̆ 𝐟𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐢 𝐟𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚in Romania…

The golden eagle and birds of the order Falconiformes are species whose conservation requires the designation of special bird protection areas (Annex 3 to Government Emergency Ordinance No. 57/2007 – A091). These are defined as protected natural areas whose purpose is the conservation, maintenance, and, where appropriate, restoration to a favorable conservation status of bird species and specific habitats designated for the protection of migratory birds.

Section 52 of this law sets forth several offenses punishable by imprisonment for a term of three months to one year or a fine, including:

– the construction of buildings or investments outside sustainable development zones within protected natural areas, with the exception of those intended for the management of the protected natural area, those intended for the prevention of natural disasters, and those carried out for the purpose of ensuring national security (several case law decisions regarding this offense can be found on the rejust.ro portal, many of which concern confirmations of the discontinuation of criminal proceedings);

– failure to comply with the provisions of Article 28(1) and (1)(1), which also refer to the prohibition of activities outside protected natural areas that would cause pollution or damage to wild bird habitats;

– failure to comply with the provisions of Article 33(1) and (2), which refer, among other things, to the prohibition of certain actions such as the intentional killing or capture, regardless of the method used; the intentional damage, destruction, and/or collection of nests and/or eggs in the wild; intentional disturbance, particularly during the breeding or rearing season, if such disturbance is relevant to the objectives of this emergency ordinance.

The commission of the last two offenses through negligence is punishable by a fine.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 137(2) (2) of the Criminal Code, if the above offenses (meaning only those committed intentionally) are committed by a legal entity, the amount corresponding to one day’s fine ranges from 500 lei to 25,000 lei (instead of 100–5,000 lei).

Article 20(6) of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 195/2006 provides that nongovernmental organizations promoting environmental protection have the right to bring legal action on environmental matters and possess standing to sue in disputes concerning environmental protection. It will be interesting to see how broadly the text of the law is interpreted in criminal matters (we already know that, in other matters, NGOs are recognized as having a sui generis status in criminal proceedings). ).

All the necessary information

In 2025, the nesting of the lesser kestrel was confirmed in Romania for the first time in 125 years (link 10).

The golden eagle represents Greater Romania on the Romanian coat of arms, but it has also remained the symbol of Muntenia, signifying dominance and the aspiration to reach new heights (link 11, very interesting information).

P.S. Although some cases are excluded, I find that, time and again, it is much easier to access case law here than in France, through the ICCJ website and the rejust.ro portal .

Resources:

1. 2022 Decision of the French Court of Cassation (press release):https://www.courdecassation.fr/…/ndeg9…/environnement…

2. Regarding the 2023 decision of the Nîmes Court of Appeal:https://www.lemonde.fr/…/dans-le-nord-de-l-herault-la…

3. About both cases:https://www.lemonde.fr/…/deux-decisions-de-justice-d…,https://fne-ocmed.fr/nos-actions-juridiques/(FNE’s actions)

4. Direct summons procedure:https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/partic…/vosdroits/F1455

5. Offenses under the Environmental Code:https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/…/LEGISCTA000006159254/…

6. About falcons:https://fne-ocmed.fr/…/communique-premiere…/,https://chasseseternelles.com/eoliennes-tueuses-la…/,https://www.lemonde.fr/…/pour-proteger-differentes…

7. About the golden eagle:https://www.lemonde.fr/…/apres-la-mort-d-un-aigle-royal…,https://reporterre.net/Un-exploitant-de-parc-eolien…,https://www.francebleu.fr/…/nouvel-episode-judiciaire…

8. On the criticism of the 2025 law:https://reporterre.net/Desastreuse-pour-la-biodiversite…

9. Government Emergency Ordinance No. 57/2007:https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/83289; Birds Directive:https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/RO/TXT/?uri=celex:32009L0147

10. The Little Bustard in Romania:https://www.sor.ro/eveniment-ornitologic-istoric…/

11. The Golden Eagle in Romania:https://pressone.ro/pasarea-din-stema-romaniei-vaneaza-si…(and the coat of arms of Romania),https://pasaridinromania.sor.ro/…/acvila-de-munte…