After lengthy discussions, the first part of the work on the Nature Restoration Law drew to a close in July with the European Parliament voting in favor of the law, although the text is very different from the original European Commission proposal. The text is close to the “General Approach” supported by the Council in late June, with the important caveat that some key elements of the proposal have been deleted or substantially modified.

Over the past decade, FACE has been calling for greater emphasis on conservation of habitats particularly outside of protected areas, including during the 2016 Fitness Check of the Nature Directives. From the hunters’ perspective, a Europe-wide framework to promote restoration is essential to achieve our biodiversity targets, which allows small game to thrive.

In this context, Article 4 on “terrestrial, costal, and freshwater ecosystems” is one of the key articles in the original proposal as it contains time-bound obligations for Member States to put in place restoration measures for habitats not in good condition and measures to re-establish habitats in places where they have been lost. The restoration obligations cover habitats listed in Annex I – 1. Wetland (coastal & inland), 2. Grassland and other pastoral habitats 3. River, Lake, Alluvial and Riparian habitats, 4. Forests, 5. Steppe, Heath and Scrub Habitats 6. Rocky and Dune habitats – to the proposal and such habitats can be located inside and outside Nature 2000 areas. The latter is an ambitious and important element as many degraded habitats are outside Nature 2000 areas.

The European Parliament substantially modified this article by deleting the time-bound obligations and limiting them to Nature 2000 areas. It could be argued that restoration obligations for Nature 2000 areas already exist under the current EU legislation, so it is not clear what novelty this article introduces.  The European Parliament’s changes to Article 4 are not present in the Council General Approach, which preserves the time-bound obligations inside and outside Nature 2000 areas.

Further, Article 9 on “agricultural ecosystems” contains an obligation for MSs to put in place restoration measures to ensure a positive increase of biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems (including in areas not covered by the habitats listed in Annex I). As FACE already underlined during the discussion leading to the adoption of the CAP post 2020, high-diversity landscape features on agricultural land, including buffer strips, rotational or non-rotational fallow land, hedgerows, individual or groups of trees, tree rows, field margins, small wetlands, terraces and stonewalls, are essential for ensuring the growth of farmland bird populations. This article on agricultural areas was completely deleted by the European Parliament, but it is still present in the Council General Approach.

It is not clear when the regulation will enter into force as the European Parliament’s text specifies that the regulation will apply only when the Commission has provided scientific data on the necessary conditions to guarantee long-term food security. In addition, it foresees a possibility to postpone the restoration targets in the regulation in the event of exceptional socio-economic consequences. The Council’s General Approach does not consider any of these elements.

Now that the trilogue is under way, it remains to be seen what agreement the co-legislators (the European Parliament and the Council) will be able to find on the final text of the Restoration Law, which should be reached by the end of the year. The discrepancies between the Parliament’s text and the Council’s General Approach could make the negotiations more difficult than foreseen.

Once the text is adopted, Member States will have to submit their draft National Restoration Plans to the Commission within 24 months following the entry into force of the regulation. The Commission will have 6 months to assess these plans and make observations to the Member State concerned. Member States will then have 6 months from the date of receipt of observations from the Commission to finalise, publish and submit the plan to the Commission.

In the meantime, hunters will continue their efforts with restoration projects benefiting a wide range of huntable and non-huntable species across Europe.