Environmental Pillar will tell European Commission Director General that strong regulation & better implementation is needed to deal with climate & nature crises
Cutting back on environmental regulations and nature protections in the face of a climate and biodiversity crisis will not just hurt the environment, but society as a whole, the Environmental Pillar will tell EU Director General for Environment Eric Mamer at a meeting today.
The Environmental Advocacy group will tell the Director General that the Commission’s proposed simplification package is code for deregulation and tearing up the rulebook at a time when environmental protections are vital in dealing with the climate and nature crises.Karen Ciesielski, Coordinator, Environmental Pillar, said: “In December 2025, the European Commission put forward its proposed environmental simplification package. However, the ‘simplification agenda’ isn’t about efficiency — it’s about deregulation and democratic erosion. It weakens our rights and lets a few people profit, while society and our environment pay the price. The climate crisis is bearing down on us and we need strong regulation and better implementation to protect and restore habitats for climate and nature.”
Oonagh Duggan, Head of Policy and Advocacy at BirdWatch Ireland and Environmental Pillar Steering Committee member said: “The European Commission is proposing to “stress test” the Birds and Habitats Directives. This looks like one more attack on nature under the guise of simplification. Without these laws, we would have no nature left in Ireland. They are critically important not only for Ireland’s wild birds but for providing a solid framework to protect our environment. Time would be better spent investing in better implementation of these laws than doing a repeat of the 2016 EU examination of them. The practical benefits of these laws are not fully appreciated. They include saving birds like the Roseate Tern from extinction and the vast free services that come from protecting habitats like dune ecosystems that buffer properties from the sea”.
“We are also calling on the Commission to focus on full and proper implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives. The process for designation of marine Special Protection Areas for seabirds is moving far too slowly and we have serious concerns about the process. At the same time we are still awaiting the Irish government’s Marine Protected Area legislation. Ireland is racing to pinpoint areas for offshore wind farms but moving at a snail’s pace to designate important areas for whales, dolphins, seabirds and other marine life. Now is not the time to be scaling back our ambitions to protect marine and terrestrial wildlife and habitats.”
Dr. Elaine McGoff, Head of Advocacy with An Taisce and Environmental Pillar Steering Committee member, said: “We are very concerned at the proposed weakening of the Water Framework Directive. Clean water is essential for a functioning society, and we are facing intensifying droughts, floods, algal blooms, fish kills and biodiversity loss. If we want healthy waters in our future we should be ratcheting up the pressure and requirement to achieve clean water, not allowing for further weakening of the regulations to suit certain polluting industries. Irish people have indicated time and time again that water pollution is one of their main concerns, we’re calling on the European Commission to protect the legislation that protects water.
Colin O’Byrne, Programme Manager with VOICE Ireland and Environmental Pillar Steering Committee member, said, “With regard to the circular economy, simplification risks weakening the enforcement which underpins it. Reduced reporting and monitoring obligations may lower the administrative burden for countries and companies, but the flipside is that it limits the data and oversight we need to ensure that Member States and companies meet re-use, waste reduction, and recycling targets.
“Cutting bureaucracy at the expense of results erodes the foundations of a functioning circular economy. The regulatory framework upon which circular economy policies rely is not optional, it is essential. It’s difficult to manage that which you don’t measure; any circular economy regulation which exists without robust reporting and enforcement, is a regulation unmoored and bound to drift. As a bloc increasingly vulnerable to external economic and geopolitical shocks, the EU risks passing up the chance to develop and strengthen our strategic autonomy in terms of material self-reliance in favour of short-term gain. Simplification should deliver better outcomes for all, not lower ambitions for some”.
Karen Ciesielski said: “This simplification agenda is not new but is accelerating. Over the past few years, we have seen rollback in environmental requirements in the Common Agriculture Policy, a weakening of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence and another year-long delay to Deforestation Regulation. At a time when we need more, not less environmental protections, it seems that vital environmental regulations to protect nature and society are in the crosshairs of legislators. This is an act of collective self-harm.”