Assessing the Impact of the Habitats Directive: A Case Study of Europe’s Plants

The Habitats Directive will remain central to the EU’s continuing efforts to halt and ultimately reverse biodiversity loss under its 2030 Strategy for Biodiversity. Understanding the role this Directive plays in protecting European species is, therefore, critical if the EU is to deliver on its ambitious nature conservation agenda. This article presents a new study that furthers our understanding of EU law’s ability to deliver meaningful changes to a species’ conservation status by comparing the status of European plants that are protected under the Habitats Directive with those that are not, using the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN)  Red List. Its findings suggest that the Directive has had only a limited impact on European flora. The article concludes by proposing reforms that could address the shortcomings in the EU’s approach to conservation which are highlighted by the study.