On 12 May, the European Commission launched the public consultation on the “stress test” of the Birds and Habitats Directives. The consultation will remain open from 12 May until 4 August and will feed into the ongoing assessment process.

The objective of the “stress test”, whose results are expected by the end of the year, is to evaluate the capacity of the directives to achieve their objectives in an “effective and cost-efficient” manner, while identifying possible avenues for simplification and reduction of administrative burdens.

The stress test will also identify opportunities to reduce unnecessary administrative burden while maintaining the directives’ ambition and high standards of nature protection.

To support Member States and reduce administrative burden, the Commission already published two guidance documents at the end of March 2026 – on Natura 2000 and climate change and on certain provisions of the Birds Directive. This comes on top of the Natura 2000 and fishing guidelines published in October 2025.

The public consultation is open until 4 August.

More information: Commission seeks public opinion on EU Nature Directives – Environment

Source: EU Commission

Image: Žymantas Morkvėnas – Copyright – EU Commission