The European Parliament’s stood up to defend key EU nature laws in a vote at its plenary session in Strasbourg. MEPs this lunchtime overwhelmingly approved a report on the Mid-term review of the EU’s
Biodiversity Strategy, which calls for the protection of the Birds and Habitats Directives. The report stresses that full implementation and enforcement of these laws, and adequate financing, are needed to achieve the targets of the EU Biodiversity Strategy. The vote was 592 in favour, with only 52 against, a decisive result for nature conservation. The call to save the laws has come about due to the ‘Fitness Check’ process currently being carried out by the European Commission on the laws, known collectively as the Nature Directives. There are fears they could be re-opened, and potentially weakened. Today’s result comes after a number of national governments showed their support for the
directives, with the EU Environment Council opposing their re-opening back in December. A huge level of public support has also been demonstrated, with more than half a million people, a record-breaking number, showing their support for the laws during a consultation which ended last July.
The vote in Parliament is another milestone for the Nature Alert campaign, led by Udruga BIOM, BirdLife in Croatia and WWF along with other conservation organisations, calling on the European Commission to protect the Nature Directives and improve their implementation, rather than re-open them. Results from the Fitness Check are expected in April.
