Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-06-15-Speech-2-581"
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"en.20100615.31.2-581"2
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"The EU Habitats and Birds Directives as they stand provide the necessary flexibility to ensure compatibility between nature protection and economic development. The Commission does not believe that a review would be justified at this stage. The reasons are as follows:
The EU nature legislation sets a global model for nature protection – science-driven, legally enforceable and based upon ecosystems as the basic unit. The Natura network is one of the most advanced, most extensive and most flexible systems of nature protection in the world. It is one of the greatest achievements of European Union environmental policy.
Biodiversity is a key environmental priority for the Commission during its present term. In March this year, the Council reaffirmed that protected areas and ecological networks are a cornerstone of our efforts to preserve biodiversity and stressed the need to fully implement the Birds and Habitats Directives and speed up completion of the Natura 2000 network.
We are now at a crucial stage of implementation of the legislation. Across Europe, the process of designation of Natura 2000 sites is nearing completion and the priority is now to ensure that the Natura 2000 network is effectively managed and properly resourced so that it can fully achieve its objectives.
The EU Habitats Directive is a unique, flexible tool, which allows farming, fishing, forestry, hunting and even major development projects to be carried out in a way that does not destroy the ecological value of our natural heritage. Natura sites are not no-go areas where human activities and economic development are to be excluded. Most sites are living landscapes which have been shaped as a result of many years of human intervention. Designation of a Natura site does not mean that economic activities within the site must be frozen. On the contrary, there are many examples such as the Port of Antwerp – which I visited recently and which is also mentioned in your question – where economic development successfully continues side by side with nature protection. Correct implementation of the provisions of the nature directives, early integration of environmental concerns into the planning process and broad information and involvement of all stakeholders are key to such success stories.
Finally, in view of the fact that we have not met the political target of halting the loss of biodiversity in 2010, we will have to assess the reasons why we have failed. In that context, we will also need to evaluate in detail whether implementation of our existing legislation is effective in delivering biodiversity protection and reflect on what improvements should eventually be made."@en1
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