Today, the European Commission published the new Environmental Omnibus and the Grids Package, which includes the proposal for a Renewable Acceleration Directive.
These texts confirm what civil society, scientists, and concerned citizens have been warning about for months: the Von der Leyen Commission is dismantling decades of hard-won nature protections, putting air, water, and public health at risk in the name of competitiveness.
These proposals are not isolated or technical adjustments: they are part of a broader pattern of attacks, from weakening the EU Deforestation Regulation to cutting down protections against chemicals and pesticides, opening the door to increased pollution. This dismantling goes beyond environmental policy, undermining democratic accountability.
Warnings from citizens and experts have so far been ignored, raising serious concerns about the legitimacy of the process. This is shown by the EU Ombudswoman’s finding of maladministration in the 2024 CAP “simplification” and by the nearly 200,000 citizen responses to the environmental omnibus call for evidence that were ultimately disregarded.
The Commission’s supposed “savings” also come with no impact assessment and focus only on reduced compliance costs, ignoring the far larger price of pollution, ecosystem decline, and climate-related disasters. Their own estimates show that weak or missing implementation of environmental laws already costs Europe about €180 billion each year in health impacts and environmental damage.
Sabien Leemans, Biodiversity Manager at WWF European Policy Office, said: “Today’s proposal marks yet another sad milestone in the deregulation madness. It is like watching a car crash in slow motion, on repeat: The Commission proposes ‘minor’ changes, completely loses control, and we end up with MEPs and Member States ripping apart entire environmental laws. We’ve seen this with the first omnibus, with the EU Deforestation Regulation, and the same may well happen with this proposal.”
The Environmental Omnibus poses serious threats to European ecosystems and public health:
- More industrial and chemical pollution: Underminingsing the EU circular economy ambition, allow industrial pollution to persist longer, exposing communities to preventable harmful emissions and increasing human exposure to toxic chemicals.
- Unsafe water: The announced review and weakening of the Water Framework Directive is highly alarming. Freshwater ecosystems are already in critical condition, and further damage will worsen health risks while reducing their ability to shield us from climate disasters. Essentially, a gift to industries at a huge cost to people and nature.
- Extra “stress” on biodiversity: Launching a “stress test” for the Birds & Habitats Directive is out of touch with the ongoing biodiversity crisis. Healthy ecosystems are vital for fighting climate change, yet the Commission seems to overlook this, ignoring scientific warnings.
European citizens’ health is at serious risk. While a few powerful industries will benefit, weaker regulations will increase exposure to toxic chemicals, worsen air and water quality, and raise long-term risks for communities. These rollbacks dismantle safeguards that protect against cancer, respiratory disease, and environmental harm. The EU should instead strengthen protections to preserve public health and ensure a clean, safe, and healthy environment.
Sofie Ruysschaert, Senior Nature Restoration Policy Officer, BirdLife Europe and Central Asia: “The Birds and Habitats Directives are the backbone of nature protection in Europe. Undermining them now would not only wipe out decades of hard-won progress but also push the EU toward a future where ecosystems and the communities that rely on them are left dangerously exposed. The Commission should support a stronger buy-in and implementation in line with the legal requirements.”
Sergiy Moroz, Policy Manager for Nature at the European Environmental Bureau, said: “The new permitting rules announced today remove essential water protections – adding to last week’s reckless decision that the EU’s main water law will be revised next year without proper evaluation. Those decisions are a blow in the face of European citizens, their health and their basic right to access clean water. Water protection is not something to be deregulated, it is the foundation of clean, safe, and resilient water for millions of Europeans.”
The new EU Grids Package further accelerates deregulation by fundamentally reshaping how energy projects are approved. The elements in the proposals for permitting risk creating:
- Legal uncertainty: Instead of truly speeding up the renewable-energy transition by implementing existing rules, they introduce a complicated mix of unclear requirements and vague terminology, easy to abuse and not aligned with existing Environmental Assessment procedures. This will inevitably lead to poorly planned projects, conflicts with wildlife and resistance from local communities.
- Lack of flexibility: Rigid rules would remove Member States’ discretion in achieving renewable energy targets. National priorities, such as urban planning or environmental protection, are overridden, leading to disproportionate land use restrictions.
- Weakening environmental protections: The directive undermines environmental rules by letting more projects bypass environmental safeguards. This puts ecologically sensitive areas, like Natura 2000 sites or free-flowing rivers, at greater risk and could make accelerated development the norm rather than the exception.
The proposals clearly aren’t about speeding up renewable energy: they favour industry interests and contradict established EU case law, weakening the EU’s environmental safeguards and threatening the rule of law.
Ioannis Agapakis, Lawyer in the Wildlife & Habitats Programme at ClientEarth, said: “After months of legislative chaos, the Commission has delivered a devastating blow to the very pillars of the EU’s legal order. It is sweeping aside democratic scrutiny and disregarding its own procedural rules, derailing the environmental permitting framework in the process. Even more concerning is that the Commission acted without any impact assessment or evidence, despite clear recommendations from the European Ombudsman – a level of arbitrariness that raises concerns about its willingness to uphold the rule of law.”
The implementation of these provisions will lead to further habitat loss and species decline in the EU. Given the already fragile state of many species and ecosystems, the risk of actual extinctions is very high.
The EU must choose whether it remains a global leader in protecting people and nature, or whether it becomes a deregulated playground for corporate interests. We now call on the European Parliament and Member States to reject this omnibus and halt the wave of deregulation it represents.
Environmental Omnibus: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_2997
