The Environmental Pillar has called on the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment to challenge European Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall on the Commission’s ‘simplification agenda’ and its overall deregulation direction.
Commissioner Roswall will address the Committee on Thursday, June 11th.
The Environmental Pillar has written to committee members to draw their attention to the European Commission’s current “stress test” of the Birds and Habitats Directives, and to urge the Committee to challenge Commissioner Roswall on the direction of travel behind this process. The stress test is explicitly framed as part of the Commission’s wider simplification agenda, with a focus on weakening environmental laws in the name of reducing “administrative burden” and improving “cost-efficiency”.
“That framing is deeply concerning,” the Pillar said. “The Birds and Habitats Directives are the cornerstone of EU nature law, and a previous Fitness Check found them fit for purpose, while identifying weak implementation as the core problem. That problem remains acute: 81% of EU protected habitat assessments are in unfavourable conservation status, and the comparable figure in Ireland is 90%.”
The Pillar highlighted the Commission’s own polling on attitudes towards biodiversity shows that neither EU nor Irish citizens support weakening core nature protections.
Fintan Kelly, Senior Land Use Officer at the Environmental Pillar said: “In Ireland, 98% say we need to look after nature, 97% say our health and wellbeing depend on nature, and 96% say biodiversity and healthy nature are indispensable for long-term economic development. Across the EU, citizens also strongly support the existing approach to Natura 2000: 89% support the current framework for managing major infrastructure projects in protected areas, while only 9% say economic development should take precedence.
“The polling also shows clear public priorities for EU action: restore nature to repair damage caused by human activities, ensure biodiversity is taken into account when planning infrastructure, and better implement existing nature laws. In other words, the public mandate is for stronger delivery, not rollback.”
These results echo an Ireland Thinks Poll commissioned by the Irish Environmental Network, which found that 39% of people say the Government should use Ireland’s EU Presidency to strengthen EU environmental protections, with another 40% saying the Irish Presidency should work to uphold existing environmental protections. Only 12% of people say EU environmental protections should be weakened. See the full poll results here: https://bit.ly/EP050626.
Dr. Elaine McGoff, Head of Advocacy with An Taisce and Environmental Pillar Steering Committee member, said: ‘Water legislation is similarly in the firing line, with a proposed weakening of the Water Framework Directive on the Commission agenda. This is a critical piece of legislation which protects our rivers, lakes and seas. The role of strong EU law is fundamental for clean water in Ireland, and given the dire state of our waterbodies, it’s never been more important.’
In that context, the Environmental Pillar is urging the Committee to press the Commissioner on three points:
- That the Birds and Habitats Directives should not be weakened under the guise of simplification.
- That the Commission should focus on implementation, enforcement, and support for Member States rather than deregulation.
- That the Commission has done too little to ensure the Nature Restoration Law will be properly funded under the EU’s next funding cycle.
“On funding, this is a major gap,” the Environmental Pillar said. “The Commission’s emerging approach to the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework does not yet provide the level of ring-fenced, predictable biodiversity and restoration funding that will be needed to deliver the Nature Restoration Law in practice. Without dedicated funding, the law risks becoming an unfunded mandate, particularly in Member States already struggling with implementation.
“Ireland should not use our presidency of the EU to support any EU process that uses simplification as a route to weaken legal protections for nature. At a time of ecological crisis, and in the face of overwhelming public support for action, the proper response is to strengthen implementation, secure funding, and restore nature at scale. This approach is also essential to economic sustainability and is supported by a broad spectrum of stakeholders, as reflected in the recent recommendations of the Independent Advisory Committee on Nature Restoration.”