FACE Takes the Future of Europe’s Birds Directive to the European Parliament

The European Federation for Hunting and Conservation, FACE, has brought the Birds Directive back onto the agenda of the European Parliament with an event held in Brussels on 2 June 2026 under the title “Conservation, Science and Policy: Shaping the Next Steps for the Birds Directive”.

According to FACE, the meeting brought together Members of the European Parliament, representatives of the European Commission and other stakeholders to examine how the implementation of EU nature legislation and the conservation of wild birds and their habitats can be improved.

The event was organised by FACE at the European Parliament and hosted by Maltese MEP Alex Agius Saliba of the S&D group, vice-chair of the “Biodiversity, Hunting, Countryside” intergroup. FACE said Agius Saliba was unable to attend because of national elections in Malta, although he maintained his support as host of the debate.

A European debate about implementation, not only species

The importance of the event lies not only in which species may be hunted or protected under EU law, but in a deeper question: how decisions are made, what data they rely on, and how effectively Directive 2009/147/EC is applied across Member States.

The European Commission describes the Birds Directive as protecting all wild bird species naturally occurring in the European Union and requiring Member States to take the necessary measures to maintain or restore their populations.

Alongside the Habitats Directive, the Birds Directive is one of the cornerstones of European biodiversity policy. Its implementation combines species protection, habitat conservation, the designation of Special Protection Areas and a system of regulated derogations, particularly relevant where sustainable hunting, damage management or the conservation of migratory birds are involved.

Science, territory and cooperation

FACE has framed the debate around three main themes: science, effective implementation and constructive cooperation. In practice, those three elements are central to any European discussion on bird conservation.

The quality of population data, the updating of national reports, coordination between countries along the same migratory flyway and the involvement of those who manage land on the ground all shape how effective the directive can be.

The European Commission notes that Member States must report every six years on the status and trends of species covered by the Birds Directive. Those data underpin EU assessments, but they also feed into many of the conflicts that follow: hunting closures, season dates, derogation permits, action plans, wetland management and measures to address damage to productive sectors.

In this context, FACE argues that hunters and their organisations are part of the conservation system on the ground, particularly in rural habitats, wetlands and migratory bird corridors.

The central issue raised in Brussels is not whether hunting stands outside conservation, but how European decisions can better incorporate verifiable data, local experience and enforcement mechanisms that work beyond the written rulebook.

A historic directive under constant pressure

The Birds Directive was originally adopted in 1979 and later codified as Directive 2009/147/EC. Since then, it has remained one of the main legal pillars of conservation in Europe, but also a recurring source of tension between administrations, rural sectors, conservation organisations and users of the countryside.

The European Commission maintains that the directive is designed to protect wild birds, their eggs, nests and habitats, while also regulating their management and use where the law allows. That balance explains why any interpretative review, technical guidance or political debate over its application can have direct consequences for hunting seasons, population management, damage control and the conservation of threatened species.

For now, the FACE event should be read as a political and sectoral move within Brussels rather than as a concrete legislative reform. The organisation has placed the “next steps” of the Birds Directive in the spotlight, but the information available does not indicate that the meeting produced a final legislative proposal, an official reform timetable or a formal European Commission position beyond the directive’s existing implementation framework.

The debate therefore remains open in the space where Europe’s major conservation choices are often shaped: scientific evidence, legal interpretation, real enforcement capacity and the participation of the people and organisations working directly on the land.