On 12 May, the European Commission officially launched the public consultation on the Birds and Habitats Directives. The public consultation runs until 4 August 2026.  It is part of the Commission’s wider simplification initiative to strengthen EU competitiveness as announced in December 2025, including the proposal for a regulation on speeding-up environmental assessments. The stress test aims to assess whether the directives remain fit for purpose and will build on the results of the 2016 Fitness Check.

The stress test focuses on three specific areas:

• Application of Article 6 of the Habitats Directive, with a focus on the Appropriate Assessment procedure for Natura 2000 sites;
• Policy coherence, stakeholder participation, funding support and governance (including monitoring and reporting);
• Species protection and derogations, and procedures for adapting the annexes to scientific and technical progress.

FACE is actively engaged in the process to ensure a good outcome for Europe’s 7 million hunters.