WindEurope has called on the EU not to reopen the Birds and Habitats Directives, as the European Commission reviews environmental legislation through its Environmental Omnibus package and a planned stress test of the two directives. The association made the case at the Brussels Night of Darkness on 12 October, where it also launched a booklet on wind energy and biodiversity.
The industry argues that reopening the rules would create legal uncertainty and risk years of additional litigation and project delays. Environmental NGOs share that concern, it said. WindEurope wants the focus on correct implementation by member states, more administrative capacity in permitting authorities, and wider use of digital permitting tools and interoperable data systems.
“The EU must not re-open the Birds and Habitats Directive,” said Pierre Tardieu, WindEurope’s Chief Policy Officer, adding that the rules allow tailored solutions for individual sites. Ariel Brunner, CEO of BirdLife, was quoted saying renewables can be accelerated without unacceptable damage to biodiversity, and that ripping up the rule book would undermine conservation and create uncertainty for responsible companies.
The booklet presents 40 case studies from 19 countries applying the mitigation hierarchy of avoiding, minimising, restoring and compensating impacts. One example is the Andau wind farm in Austria, where a radar-based system developed with air navigation provider Austro Control keeps obstruction lights off unless an aircraft enters a zone of at least 8 km, which WindEurope says means lights off up to 90% of nights across 79 turbines. The permitting debate matters for Baltic developers, who work under the same EU nature rules.
