De Europese Natuurherstelverordening: een storm in een glas water?

This article discusses the Nature Restoration Act (NRA) and its consequences for the Netherlands. This EU regulation sets restoration targets and deadlines for Member States, but does not impose direct obligations on individuals or companies. The NRA requires Member States to establish a national restoration plan including measures to restore designated ecosystems. The main obligation is to improve biodiversity. For agricultural ecosystems these measures will focus on reducing pesticide use and creating diverse landscape features. So-called deterioration prohibitions apply to terrestrial, coastal, freshwater and marine ecosystems. Although these are best-effort obligations, they are not meaningless. Member States must take effective measures to prevent further deterioration of these ecosystems. If the habitats are not in good condition, plans or projects of overriding public interest for which no less damaging alternative solutions are available may only be permitted after a case by case assessment. For other activities (i.e. not plans or projects of overriding public interest), some form of assessment will also be required, but a permit system is not required under the Nature Restoration Regulation. In view of the EU prevention and precautionary principles, which also underpin the Nature Restoration Regulation, it is likely that a prior risk assessment will be required. This risk assessment could, however, be embedded in a programme with a programmatic approach so that the Netherlands does not become gridlocked any further.