Problems arising in connection with the conservation of species and habitats are not inherent in the Nature Directives themselves, but arise, for the most part, in their implementation at local, regional and Member State level. It is problematic, that other sectoral policies of the European Union, such as the common agricultural and fisheries policies, energy and transport policies, still do not contribute sufficiently to the preservation of biodiversity.
The European Commission and the Member States have to support local and regional authorities in the full implementation of the Nature Directives and to address the lack of funding and the need to simplify access to the existing sources of funding.
The European Commission is encouraged to adopt more effective implementation guidelines and update existing ones so that they are easily understandable and available via a single internet portal in the various languages of the Member States, reflect existing case law and, where appropriate, address the specific characteristics of certain sectors.
The Nature Directives shall not be revised, not least because local and regional authorities need more time in order to realise the potential of the directives to the greatest possible extent; and bearing in mind that initial uncertainties about the interpretation of the directives have largely been addressed by European Court of Justice case law, and that opening up the existing legislation for review will prompt protracted discussions among the stakeholders in society affected by the legislation, followed again by legal uncertainty.
Impact report 2015:
The own-initiative opinion allowed the CoR, at an early stage in the process, to feed the concerns of the EU's local and regional authorities that the Nature Directives should not be opened up for review into the EC's fitness check and into the positions of both the EP and the Council .
The section on the fitness check and the implementation of the Nature Directives in the Council conclusions on The Mid-Term Review of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, adopted on 16 December 2015, reflected several of the CoR's positions, including:
the fact that the effectiveness of the Directives depends on consistent implementation, adequate financial resources and the integration of biodiversity into other sectoral policies;
the point that the results of the fitness check should allow for the identification of measures to further strengthen their implementation;
the call for the EC and the Member States to ensure predictable, adequate, regular and targeted funding for the proper management of Natura 2000;
the need for the EC to work on biodiversity-proofing the EU budget.
The EP resolution on the mid-term review of the EU's Biodiversity Strategy of February 2016 reflected several recommendations from the CoR opinion. The EP:
opposed a possible revision of the Nature Directives, stressing incomplete, divergent and inadequate implementation, enforcement and integration into other policy areas;
called on the EC to improve the user-friendliness of the guidelines and
called on regional and local authorities to provide information and raise awareness about biodiversity; called for a multi-stakeholder approach and
stressed the vital role of "regional and local actors", and of their full participation in this process.
Impact report 2016:
In addition to the impact reported already for 2015, the opinion had the following impact:
Following on the participation of the rapporteur in key events in 2015, the ENVE Commission and the rapporteur succeeded in maintaining the profile, inter-institutional role and visibility of the CoR on this dossier, by hosting and speaking at conferences at the CoR on "Health and Social benefits of Biodiversity and Nature Protection", "Solid biomass in European Protected Areas: Sustainable supply chain models" and "Actions for Nature – Getting Europe on track to meet its 2020 targets", and representing the CoR in the 2016 Natura 2000 Awards.
In line with the CoR opinion, the European Commission college in its orientation debate of 7 December 2016 decides not to revise the Nature Directives, but to adopt an Action Plan on improving their implementation. According to the European Commission, the Action Plan will foresee "holding regular meetings with mayors and other local authorities to assess implementation challenges and help Member States take the necessary corrective action", "appropriate implementation guidelines for regional actors, reducing unnecessary burdens and litigation, and incentivising national and regional investment in biodiversity". "The Committee of the Regions will be closely involved in the follow-up of today's orientation debate."
At the ENVE Commission meeting on 1 February 2017, European Commission Director-General for Environment Calleja Crespo hold a debate with ENVE members on the means of cooperation under the future European Commission Action Plan.
The CoR was closely involved by the European Commisison in the preparation of the Action Plan **(CoR participation in the project team of Commissioners steering the preparation). The Action Plan, adopted by the European Commission on 27 April 2017, **stresses that "the CoR (…) will play an essential role as regards engagement with and outreach to regional and local authorities." It assigns co-responsibilites to the CoR for the roll-out of some of its actions, including in particular the setting up of a joint CoR/EC platform to support knowledge exchange and engagement of local and regional authorities. and its roll-out (co-responsibility to be given to the CoR for some actions of the Action Plan). The European Commission press release of 27 April includes a quote of the CoR First Vice President Lambertz on the close coooperation.
The Council Conclusions of 19 June 2017 on the Action Plan, in line with the CoR opinion, explicitly refer in several points to competence of local and regional authorities in implementation of the Nature Directives and the need for their increased engagement.
Moreover the Council "welcomes the role that the EU institutions can play in supporting the delivery of the Action Plan, and in particular the Committee of the Regions as regards outreach and building ownership at regional and local level", and "urges the European Commission to monitor its delivery across the 15 actions identified therein, in close collaboration with the Member States and the EU institutions, in particular the Committee of the Regions, the European Environment Agency, and all other relevant stakeholders."
Moreover, the Council included in its conclusions two important elements, which go beyond the Action Plan (as the Action Plan ends 2019), but for which the CoR has also been calling for in its past opinions, namely the need to ensure predictable, adequate, regular and targeted EU financing for Natura 2000, and the call on the Commission to put forward a proposal for a trans-European network for green infrastructure (TENG) to support better connectivity of Natura 2000 in a cross-border context.
The *motion for resolution for consideration by the ENVI Commiteee on 31/08/2017 *on the Action Plan stresses the importance of taking immediate, substantial and additional efforts in order to achieve the 2020 targets. In addition, it calls on the Commission to come forward with several proposals, such as an EU initiative on pollinators and a proposal for the development of a Trans-European Network for Green Infrastructure (TEN-G). The latter has also been called for by the CoR opinion.
THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
- is convinced that problems arising in connection with the conservation of species and habitats are not inherent in the Nature Directives themselves, but arise, for the most part, in their implementation at local, regional and Member State level; finds it problematic, that other sectoral policies of the European Union, such as the common agricultural and fisheries policies, energy and transport policies, still do not contribute sufficiently to the preservation of biodiversity;
- calls on the European Commission and the Member States to support local and regional authorities in the full implementation of the Nature Directives and to address the lack of funding and the need to simplify access to the existing sources of funding;
- encourages the European Commission to adopt more effective implementation guidelines and update existing ones so that they are easily understandable and available via a single internet portal in the various languages of the Member States, reflect existing case law and, where appropriate, address the specific characteristics of certain sectors;
- believes that it would be better not to revise the Nature Directives, not least because local and regional authorities need more time in order to realise the potential of the directives to the greatest possible extent; and bearing in mind that initial uncertainties about the interpretation of the directives have largely been addressed by European Court of Justice case law, and that opening up the existing legislation for review will prompt protracted discussions among the stakeholders in society affected by the legislation, followed again by legal uncertainty.