Nature directives should be fully implemented
The Environment ministers of the European Union have unanimously voiced their opposition to a weakening of nature conservation law in the EU. On 16 December in Brussels, the EU Environment Council agreed that full implementation of the two EU nature directives is essential for achieving the goals of the EU Biodiversity Strategy. The ministers maintained that the Birds and Habitats directives had proved their worth and are "essential components of European nature protection". The ministers also agreed that improving nature conservation financing and taking nature conservation goals into greater account in agriculture were necessary to preserve nature and biodiversity.
State Secretary at the Federal Environment Ministry Jochen Flasbarth, who represented Germany at the Environment Council meeting, said that it is now important to achieve the EU Biodiversity Strategy targets for 2020. "The EU nature directives need to be implemented more stringently, not amended. The legal certainty for all parties which the directives provide must not be jeopardised." He added that the first results of the fitness checks presented in November did not indicate that the EU nature directives were in need of amendment.
In October Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks and 8 other EU environment ministers underlined the importance of the nature directives and rejected any amendment to the existing legislation. Other ministers and parliaments had aligned themselves with this position prior to the Environment Council meeting on 16 December. In so-called fitness checks the European Commission is currently reviewing the effectiveness of the EU Birds and Habitats Directives.