Eagle Killed by Wind Turbines: New Law Clears Company of Blame

One tangible outcome of the Agricultural Orientation Law (LOA) enacted on March 24, 2025, a piece of legislation heavily criticized for its steps backward in biodiversity, has emerged recently. On February 5th, the Montpellier Court of Appeal overturned the conviction of Renewable Energy of Languedoc, a wind farm operator, and its CEO, according to the media outlet Contexte. They had previously been fined over 200,000 euros in April 2025, half of which was suspended, because their Bernagues wind park in Hérault had led to the death of a golden eagle, a protected species, back in 2020.

The appellate judges applied the new regulations regarding harm to protected species. Under the previous laws before the LOA, such damage could result in three years of imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros. However, it is now required to demonstrate that the offense was committed either “intentionally or through gross negligence” for criminal penalties to be imposed. By differentiating “intentional harms” to protected species from “acts of good faith,” this provision is essentially “a license to destroy biodiversity,” argued Laure Piolle, the agricultural issues officer at France Nature Environment (FNE), speaking with Decatur Metro. It’s important to note that this provision was introduced during the Senate review by rapporteurs Laurent Duplomb and Franck Menonville and retained in the joint committee.

However, in the case of the Bernagues wind turbines, collisions with birds of prey were observed from their initial years of operation, with the discovery of dead lesser kestrels around the turbines. Despite these identified risks, the operator continued to run the turbines either fully or partially. FNE Occitanie-Méditerranée has decided to take the case to the Court of Cassation.