Scientists Urge EU Not to Revise Nature Laws
More than 600 European researchers asked the European Commission to leave the Birds and Habitats Directives unchanged while a stress test of the laws is underway.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Environmental
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More than 600 members of the European scientific community signed an open letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asking that the Birds and Habitats Directives not be revised. The Commission is currently conducting a stress test of the directives.
Why it matters
The signatories argue that changing the directives' provisions could weaken biodiversity protection across the European Union. Their letter identifies implementation problems, insufficient resources, and weak integration of biodiversity into other policies as the core difficulties.
The open letter was signed by more than 600 members of the European scientific community. The Commission has not yet determined whether the directives require legislative change.
The players
Ursula von der Leyen
Ursula von der Leyen is the President of the European Commission, the executive body that proposes EU legislation and oversees its enforcement.
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive branch of the European Union, responsible for proposing laws and monitoring their application across member states.
The details
The Commission's work programme confirms a review of nature protection legislation covering the Birds and Habitats Directives and Natura 2000. Scientists say the main problems lie in how the directives are implemented rather than in the laws themselves.
Timeline
November 4, 2026: More than 600 scientists sent the open letter urging the Commission not to revise the directives.
Third quarter of 2027: The review could produce legislative or non-legislative measures.
Big Picture
The debate centers on the Birds Directive of 1979 and the Habitats Directive of 1992, which created the Natura 2000 network of protected sites. The Commission's current stress test tests whether that framework still works as designed.
Any change to the directives would affect how land and habitats are protected across EU member states. The stress test will show whether the rules need to be rewritten or whether existing rules can be applied more effectively.
The takeaway
Protecting biodiversity may depend more on better enforcement and funding than on rewriting the laws. The outcome of the stress test will show which path the EU chooses.
What happens next
The Commission's review could produce legislative or non-legislative measures in the third quarter of 2027, depending on the outcome of the stress test.
Further reading
Explore more environmental news to see how EU nature policy debates fit into wider conservation efforts.
More information
Read the open letter from European scientists to the Commission calling for the directives to be left unchanged.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Agence Europe.
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