To the national members, the Business Seat members and CoF Associate members of the European Landscape Contractors Association (ELCA)
for information to the associate national members
Dear Madam, Dear Sir,
On March 26th and 27th, 2026, the 5th meeting of the expert group on the EU Nature Restoration Regulation took place in Brussels. I took part in this meeting, together with representatives of the national governments of the EU-member states, representatives of European institutions and stakeholders from associations and NGO’s.
The implementation process of the Regulation is running full speed. From the side of the European Commission, we received feedback on the actions they are working on right now. Amongst others, there will be a report soon on the necessary funding for nature restoration in the different ecosystems. In for example the urban chapter, the work of the European Commission in the past period was focussed on the method of data collection and the determination of the urban areas that should be included in the national restoration plans. The national governments reported during the meeting on the status of the composition of their national restoration plan. They must submit the draft version to the European Commission in September 2026. Most of the EU-member states have installed working groups per ecosystem (in which some of you are involved at national level) and/or held a first public consultation. In April/May, different member states open a public consultation on their draft national restoration plan. This is the moment for you to take notice of the national plan and to give your feedback and recommendation. Please look at the following website https://biodiversity.europa.eu/europes-biodiversity/nature-restoration/reference-portal-for-nature-restoration-regulation/information-on-nrr-and-public-consultations-in-member-states to find information of your national government on the Nature Restoration Regulation and, if applicable, the planning of an upcoming public consultation. If you need assistance here, please let me know.
Satisfactory levels
Besides updates on the status, we have discussed the methodology of assessing the (draft) national restoration plans and the approach for the three-/six year reporting obligation. Based on this methodology and reporting, we keep an eye on the progress of restoration
actions and the results. Also very important was the discussion in the expert group on the guiding framework for the satisfactory levels. How do we determine in for example the urban area what the satisfactory level will be? The European Environment Agency
presented different approaches on which I will deliver additional input from our perspective in the coming days.
Highlight and link
I look back with great appreciation to this expert group meeting. The topics on the agenda were very well prepared by the European Commission and there is every room for discussion. In the sidelines of the meeting, I had the opportunity to speak with different
representatives of national governments to highlight our support for the urban plans and to make the link for contact with our national associations.
Letter to Commissioner Roswall and Committees European Parliament
Good for you to know is, that I have recently sent a letter to Commissioner Roswall and the Environment and Agriculture Committees in the European Parliament to express concern about the upcoming Environment Omnibus. The aim of this Omnibus is to simplify several
EU-regulations on environment. Different stakeholders have already announced in their plead that the EU Nature Restoration Regulation should also be included. Although the European Commission has at this moment no intention to put the Nature Restoration Regulation
under the Omnibus, it is good to express a positive message about the regulation and our support for the European Commission in its further implementation. The letter to Commissioner Roswall is for your information attached to this mail.
I hope this lobby flash finds you well. Please let me know if you have questions or points of attention for me. Thank you very much in advance for reply.
With kind regards,
Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Cordialement,
Egbert Roozen
secretary general
Rond Point Robert Schuman 6 box 5
1040 Brussels
con...@elca.info – www.elca.info

ELCA
- European Landscape Contractors Association
Instagram: elcalandscapecontractors
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