Riga, 14/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - Short of a miracle, the EU will not reach the targets it has set to stop the loss of biodiversity and where possible restore ecosystems and ecosystemic services by 2020.
The twenty-eight EU environment ministers were at an Environment Council meeting in Riga on Tuesday 14 April, where they admitted that the targets would not be met, although a number of member states are making progress. The most recent alarming report from the European Environment Agency makes the situation clear and cannot be gainsaid (see EUROPE 11266)
Improving implementation of existing rules and better incorporating concerns about biodiversity into other policies, such as farming, fisheries or tourism, are the two priorities identified by the ministers for the mid-term review of the biodiversity strategy this year. Kaspars Gerhards, chair of the Environment Council, summarised the discussions by saying that they had unanimously admitted that a lot remains to be done and had confirmed their commitment to the biodiversity strategy's targets. The level of legislation has to be maintained, but the rules need to be clarified.
Habitats and Wild Birds Directives - Commission to decide in early 2016 whether they need revising
Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella said the member states were making progress at different speeds and one needed to single out the member states that have the greatest problems, find out why they have problems and see how they can be helped, stressing the need for full implementation of existing rules and a joined-up strategy that has biodiversity and economic growth as two sides of the same coin.
The Commissioner told reporters that a consultation was underway on the Habitats and Wild Birds Directives to make the rules more effective, and the review of the legislation would be completed at the beginning of next year, which will enable the European Commission to see whether the two directives need to be revised. The in-depth review of the Habitats and Wild Birds Directives, merging them into more updated legislation, as planned in the Commissioner's work programme, generated a storm of protest when the Juncker Commission came into force because environmentalists fear it would lead to a watering down of the protection of the environment. (Aminata Niang)