La Tutela degli ecosistemi marini in relazione all’applicazione dei differenti regimi normativi vigenti

The work briefly reviews the economic reasons to support an approach to environmental protection based on the principle of «command and control», alternative to market mechanisms. Through a synthetic examination of the evolution of the Italian legislation, it moves on to examine the state of implementation in Italy of the «Habitats» and «Birds» directives, with regard to marine environment and the related issues. Following the evolution of the legislation, special attention is paid to the issues related to the management of marine protected areas, in relation to the different standards underlying their establishment, with a focus on the problems concerning conflicts of competence insurgents, particularly in relations between central government and regions . In relation to the particular case of the institution of the Sites of Community Interest in the marine environment (marine SCIs), it’s been developed the case study of the region of Sardinia, which was applied for the first time, through the establishment of marine SCIs overlapping to MPA’s, as an attempt to centralize the management of the two different systems of protection in a single management body. A critical analysis of this approach shows that the establishment of marine SCIs experienced in Sardinia does not meet the requirements of the Community, including those relating to the indications issued by the Commission, on the basis of the case law of the European Court of Justice on the subject.