Dear Reader,
It’s Ben holding the pen this week.
On Wednesday, Europe woke up to big news from across the pond: a Democratic “bluenami” had swept the US midterms, handing Democrats control of both houses of Congress. The elections made history, with groundbreaking victories for Native American candidates, people of colour, religious minorities and openly gay candidates.
Across many of these campaigns, a message of hope cut through the noise, alongside demands for a better future: affordable housing, accessible healthcare, childcare, an end to wars of aggression and greater accountability for how public money is spent. Climate was also on the ballot.
And the US is far from the only place where people are making their voices heard. From firefighters demanding safer working conditions to agricultural workers fighting exploitation, people across Europe are standing up for their rights and livelihoods. As we explore in our newly published op-ed, World in protest: When people refuse to give up on the future, political outcomes are not inevitable. People coming together can change them.
This week’s New Leaf looks at the EU nature protections once again under threat, the Commission’s curious new war on “gold-plating”, and the people standing up for workers’ rights and our living planet. Different struggles, perhaps, but increasingly connected by a common demand: a future that puts people and nature before short-term profits.
> Enjoy the read, and if you do, consider buying us a coffee ☕ If you’d like to get in touch, we’d love to hear from you at newleaf@eeb.org.
Editor’s note: Sorry not sorry
🫷🌳 HANDS OFF NATURE MEANS HANDS OFF NATURE
Not out of the woods. After an underwhelming end to the UN’s Biodiversity COP last week, the EU also took some very concerning steps away from vital nature protections this week. The EU Commission just published its 2027 Work Programme, setting out its policy priorities for the coming year.
Birds under attack. Among those priorities – seemingly out of the blue – is a potential reopening of the EU’s decades-old and much-revered Birds and Habitats Directives. The timing is particularly strange. The Commission’s own ongoing ‘stress test’ of these laws has yet to conclude, and its preliminary findings point to the need for better implementation, funding and enforcement – not rewriting the rules. Several Member States have also warned against reopening them.
Conservation legend. Together, the Birds and Habitats Directives protect hundreds of species and habitats across Europe, underpinning the vast Natura 2000 network of protected areas spanning around 950,000 km² of land and sea. Find your closest one here!
Didn’t get the memo? Just weeks ago, 1.25 million people called on EU leaders to defend these protections. And they’re far from alone. More than 1,500 scientists have now written to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, warning against reopening the Directives – and the number is growing. As they point out, Europe’s continuing biodiversity decline doesn’t mean the laws have failed – it means their objectives haven’t yet been fully achieved. So with citizens, scientists and Member States all raising concerns, whose demands are being heard?
Vested interests calling the shots. And the threats to nature protections don’t stop there. This week, the EU Parliament’s Environment Committee narrowly voted (36–35) to advance new permitting rules that could allow projects to harm protected species, including their nests and eggs, while fast-tracking approvals for loosely defined ‘strategic projects’. Another potential blow to the very safeguards the Birds and Habitats Directives were designed to provide. More to come on this.
🥇 GOLD-PLATING: WHEN BETTER BECOMES A PROBLEM
Going for gold? Not so fast. Also buried in the Commission’s 2027 Work Programme is a proposed Pact against gold-plating. Sounds technical, but bear with us. In jewellery, gold-plating means coating a cheaper metal with a thin layer of gold. In EU law, it refers to adding unnecessary requirements when turning European rules into national ones. In the early days of the Single Market, some Member States used extra national requirements to shield domestic businesses from European competition. So there was good reason to strip away that unnecessary gold.
One size doesn’t fit all. Nobody wants unnecessary bureaucracy. But stronger environmental protections aren’t just a decorative layer of gold. EU environmental rules often set minimum standards, leaving countries room to respond to different challenges. Going beyond those minimums to protect people and nature is not, and should not be considered, gold-plating. But the Commission’s new initiative risks lumping these legitimate protections together with unnecessary bureaucracy.
Same rules, different realities. Imagine two towns. One enjoys clean air, while the other is already choking on pollution from nearby industries. Now imagine another industry opening in each town. Should both face exactly the same pollution limits? The second town is already breathing polluted air, so even more pollution could push it beyond safe levels. Very often, stricter local limits have nothing to do with red tape – they’re essential to protecting people’s health and responding to reality.
The legal bit matters. The EU treaties explicitly allow Member States to go further in protecting people and the environment. Yet the Commission’s approach risks treating even lawful additional protections as a problem to be reviewed, with the debate centred on costs to businesses and the functioning of the Single Market. When did doing better than the bare minimum become something to discourage?
Forgive us for being suspicious. The Commission says its pact will respect existing rights and Treaty obligations, and it’s too early to know which national measures might be affected. But given the proposed reopening of the Birds and Habitats Directives, the permitting changes described above and the wider push to weaken environmental safeguards, forgive us for being a little suspicious. EU minimum standards should be a floor, not a ceiling. Watch this space!
⛑️✊🍃 WORKER AND NATURE PROTECTIONS TOGETHER!
No smoke without fire. This summer, tens of thousands of firefighters risked their lives to protect people, communities, homes and precious forests from deadly blazes. On Tuesday, firefighters from across Europe gathered in Brussels to demand better working conditions and stronger protections for people and nature, with the EEB and other civil society organisations joining them.
Don’t clap while starving the service. EU leaders were heavy on the applause during this “summer of truth”, but firefighters’ demands are clear: proper funding, safe working conditions and strong nature protections.
As one firefighter reminds us: “Every year, firefighters are injured. Every year, some do not come home. Nature does not negotiate. The laws of nature cannot be deregulated. When we weaken environmental protections, we do not remove risks. We simply transfer the costs to citizens, communities, emergency services, healthcare workers and future generations.”
Warning: may contain exploitation. And firefighters aren’t the only workers whose livelihoods and safety are at stake. A DeSmog investigation reveals how EU farm subsidies are helping to bankroll widespread labour abuses. Meanwhile, EU Member States have pushed to weaken basic worker protections attached to the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) – worth around €55 billion annually in public funding.
Not with our money. On Monday, we joined trade unions, farming cooperatives and civil society organisations demonstrating in Brussels against the proposed changes. With negotiations now moving to the EU Parliament, protesters had a clear message: public money should not fund labour exploitation.
📡 ON OUR RADAR
Data centres causing trouble (again). A separate investigation by Investigate Europe has uncovered reports of gruelling working conditions, withheld wages and “mental terror” among workers constructing Europe’s rapidly expanding data centres. The findings add another dimension to concerns about the industry’s environmental footprint.
Protecting children’s health or pesticide industry profits? The EU Parliament will soon vote on the controversial Pesticides Omnibus, which critics warn could weaken safeguards against harmful pesticides. This week in Brussels, farmers, health professionals, people affected by pesticide exposure and civil society groups came together to urge MEPs to put public health first. Read our recent op-ed on what’s at stake for Europe’s children.
The finger points to factory farms. Just five countries – France, Germany, the UK, Spain and Italy – account for almost 60% of livestock methane emissions across 32 European countries studied, according to a new policy briefing by Changing Markets Foundation, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, the University of Oxford and the EEB. Cattle account for nearly 80% of these emissions, yet remain outside EU industrial emissions controls.
What the F are F-gases? A new study by the EEB, Deutsche Umwelthilfe and ChemSec highlights a troubling blind spot in EU climate policy. While the F-gas Regulation tackles greenhouse gas emissions, it doesn’t fully address the chemical pollution caused by certain PFAS F-gases, which can break down into TFA – a highly persistent pollutant raising concerns about reproductive and developmental health. Cutting emissions is important, but it doesn’t automatically make the chemicals safe.
World in Protest: When people refuse to give up on the futureFrom classrooms and climate marches to movements challenging entrenched political power, people across the world are fighting for a different future. Their struggles may look different, but they have more in common than we might think. And together, they show that change is possible. READ HERE
🧠✨ DOPAMINE HIT
As ever, here are a few happy updates to get your weekend off to a perky start:
- Greenland votes to suspend deep-sea mining until 2029. Read more here
- Iceland to submit bill that could ban whaling in its waters. Read more here
- How one of Europe’s most polluted cities became a blueprint for nature restoration. Read more here
- Solar and storage accounted for nearly 1 million EU jobs in 2025. Read more here
🧚 THE JOB FAIRY
- International Committee of the Red Cross is looking for an FAS Delegate, Germany/Nordics
- Transport & Environment is looking for a Senior Director – Communications
- WWF is looking for a Marketing & Copywriting Officer.
- European Cyclists’ Federation is looking for an EuroVelo Intern
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