Safeguarding Europe’s Biodiversity Legislation – Scientific Evidence in Support of the EU Birds and Habitats Directives under the 2026 Stress Test

The 2026 stress test of the EU Birds Directive and EU Habitats Directive takes place in a context shaped by the European Commission’s broader agenda on regulatory simplification and competitiveness, as well as ongoing geopolitical tensions. The stated objective is to assess efficiency and proportionality. Concerns have been raised, however, that opening the door to potential amendments to core elements of the EU’s legal biodiversity framework may be counterproductive, rather than contributing to simplification and effectiveness, weakening their paramount importance to nature restoration, economy and society in Europe. A comprehensive review of scientific and policy evidence demonstrates that the EU Nature Directives remain fundamentally fit for purpose. Where properly implemented, they have reduced pressures on biodiversity, slowed declines in species and habitat loss, contributed to measurable recovery trends, and provided substantial socio-economic benefits. The Natura 2000 network, established under these Directives, constitutes the largest coordinated system of protected areas globally, generating ecosystem service benefits estimated at €200-300 billion annually, which clearly outweigh the estimated annual costs of about €10.2 billion. However, the same body of evidence consistently shows that the Directives’ effectiveness is constrained by implementation gaps, rather than by deficiencies in the legislation itself. These include insufficient funding and human resources, insufficient translation into operational actions on the ground, weak policy coherence with key economic sectors, stakeholder tensions, persistent gaps in monitoring and data systems, and a lack of well-aligned cross-boundary coordination of the protection of species and habitats. This white paper presents evidence supporting that the stress test should be reframed as an opportunity not to weaken the Nature Directives, but to strengthen their implementation and cross-sectoral support. Simplification should not be understood as lowering legal safeguards, but as making implementation clearer, more predictable, sufficiently funded and better coordinated across policy sectors, ecosystems and member states, without reducing the existing level of protection. Enhancing data quality, improving cross-sectoral policy coherence, reforming harmful subsidies and mobilising biodiversity friendly funding, taking cumulative impacts into account, ensuring ecological connectivity, reinforcing stakeholder participation under biodiversity prioritisation, capitalising on past projects, relying on joint fact-finding, and modernising governance and monitoring systems would significantly increase both legal certainty, environmental effectiveness and economic efficiency of the Nature Directives. Such an approach would align biodiversity protection with the EU’s broader goals of a healthy environment for all European citizens, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and long-term sustainable food production and economic competitiveness.