Levels

Biodiversity at a European Level

The European Union

The European Union has been taking action on biodiversity since the 1970’s and is committed to implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the international treaty that aims to sustain the rich diversity of life on earth.

European Biodiversity Strategy

This strategy, which was set up in 1998, lays down a general framework for developing Community policies and instruments to fulfil the Community's obligations under the CBD. It is developed around four major themes, with specific objectives being determined and implemented for each by means of Action Plans.

Countdown 2010 target

In 2001, the EU set a target to halt biodiversity loss in the EU by 2010. The Countdown 2010 programme is a network of active partners working together towards the 2010 biodiversity target. It is aimed at encouraging action, promoting the importance of the 2010 biodiversity target and assessing the progress towards 2010.

Click here to view diagram illustrating EU Biodiversity Action Plan policy areas and objectives.

Environmental Action Programme 2002 - 2012

Biodiversity is also a key focus of the EU’s Environmental Action Programmes (EAPs), which set the agenda for EU environmental policy. Their most recent Programme, the ‘Sixth Environmental Action Programme 2002-2012’, identifies the following four environmental priorities and outlines the actions that need to be taken to achieve them:

v Climate change

v Nature and biodiversity

v Environment and health

v Natural resources and waste

As ‘Nature and Biodiversity’ is a key priority, the Environmental Action Programme 2002 – 2012, aims to complete the Natura 2000 network of natural heritage sites and protect landscapes, and to avert threats to the survival of endangered species and habitats. It also pledges to create sectoral biodiversity action plans, a strategy for protecting soils, and measures to prevent industrial and mining accidents.

Despite these efforts, a mid-term report published in May 2006 by the Institute for European Environmental Policy and the EEB concluded that most objectives of the 6th EAP will not be reached and that environmental policy has been politically "downgraded" as a result of the EU's Lisbon agenda for growth and jobs. Click here

There are three main pieces of EU legislation that target Biodiversity:

Birds Directive (Council Directive 74/409/EEC) - This directive was about the conservation of wild birds. It was adopted in 1979 and created a framework for the conservation and management of human interactions with wild birds in Europe. This Directive set activities and objectives for the protection of wild birds and their habitats for each Member State to apply at their own discretion.

Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC) - The 1992 Habitats Directive centered on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild flora and fauna. It is the means by which the EU meets its obligations in reference to the Bern Convention, where it signed the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats.

Wildlife Trade Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) 338/97 - The aim of the Regulation is to protect wild animals and plants currently or likely to become threatened by international trade, by regulating the trade in these species. It enforces CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) within the EU and provides additional measures for the conservation of species in trade.