Brussels – “The devastating wildfires continue to highlight the urgent need to protect nature,” and for this reason the European Commission must use the review of EU environmental protection laws “to ensure that existing legislation is fully enforced and funded, rather than weakened.” This is the warning of the #HandsOffNature campaign launched in September 2025 and promoted by a coalition of four European environmental organisations—BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, the European Environment Agency and the European office of the WWF. Today (10 August) marked the end of the Commission’s public consultation on the future of the Birds and Habitat directives, and 600.000 citizens have signed the coalition’s petition calling on the Commission to do more to defend EU nature protection laws.
The review, also known as the European Commission’s “stress test”, is an effectiveness assessment and simplification of the two Directives, regarded as the regulatory pillars of biodiversity conservation and Natura 2000, a network of ecological areas spread across all Member States, established to protect natural habitats and rare or threatened animal and plant species. Between 12 May and 10 August 2026, an open public consultation was held to assess whether the two pieces of legislation were effectively achieving their environmental protection objectives, while identifying opportunities to reduce the bureaucratic and administrative burdens on businesses, farmers, and Member States.
According to the coalition, if the Commission intends to “reduce administrative burdens,” it cannot “regard environmental protection measures as ‘red tape’ to be eliminated.” In 2016, the standards were assessed as “fit for purpose” by the fitness check as they “help to protect forests, wetlands, rivers and habitats that provide clean water, healthy soils, and resilience against climate-related risks, such as forest fires, floods, and droughts.” Therefore, they should not be weakened, as they are “essential protective measures” for both people and nature.
In a press release, the four organisations pointed out that European citizens also want more effective measures in terms of environmental protection. In particular, one of the latest surveys by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, shows that almost all Europeans (96 per cent) believe it is important to halt the loss of biodiversity, and 95 per cent recognise that human health and well-being depend on healthy ecosystems.
“The Commission’s ‘stress test’ must not become an excuse to weaken environmental protections,” the coalition reiterated in a press release. While “Europe faces another summer of extreme heat, wildfires, and drought, weakening the laws that protect our forests, wetlands, and wildlife would be reckless and deeply irresponsible,” it concluded.
