The fate of the habitats and the birds directives, which form the pillars of EU legislation on protecting nature, is likely to be determined on Wednesday 7 December, almost a year late according to the initial timetable.
For the European Commission, the decision is whether to revise the directives, in light of “better regulation” as it would seem to be planning, or leaving them as they stand, as European environment ministers, the European Parliament, environmental NGO and citizens, keen to see stronger enforcement of these two pieces of legislation, have, for months, been calling for.
“The Commission will hold a policy debate on EU legislation on protecting nature, including the birds and habitats directives”, Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas told the press simply on Tuesday 6 December.
The “health check” on the two directives, expected at the end of June 2016 under Netherlands Presidency, was deferred much to the chagrin of NGOs WWF and Birdlife (see EUROPE 11570).
To reassure those who want no change to the texts, European Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella gave assurances that the Commission would not water down the objectives of the directives (see EUROPE 11536).
The evaluation exercise of the habits and birds directives was launched by Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans under the REFIT programme. The outcome of the public consultation was that it would be better to improve implementation of the directives, the effectiveness of which had been demonstrated and was clear to the Environment Council, the European Parliament and NGOs (see EUROPE 11481 and 11456). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)