EU environment ministers against changes in Natura 2000 directives

This position is officially stated in a letter signed by the ministers and addressed to Karmenu Vella, EU Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

“European directives have proven their importance and have become an essential component of biodiversity conservation in Europe. It would be impossible to achieve the objectives in the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 without them. The first results of their successful implementation are already visible” – says the letter, which explicitly calls for suspension of the procedure for changes in the environmental directives - http://www.bmub.bund.de/fileadmin/Daten_BMU/Download_PDF/Strategien_Bilanzen_Gesetze/refit_joint_letter_en.pdf

The powerful institutional support for the directives of NATURA 2000 by the member states, whose population is over 63% of the total population of the EU, comes at a crucial time. Next month the European Commission will be presenting the first results of the campaign for comprehensive assessment of whether the existing regulatory framework serves its purposes.

“For the Nature in Bulgaria” Coalition welcomes the position of the ministers and expects Bulgarian Minister of Environment and Water Ivelina Vassileva to also firmly state her position against the changes in the directives. Such a position will correspond to the desire of tens of thousands of Bulgarians, who have already expressed their support for the saving of the environmental directives in an inquiry conducted by the European Commission.