The European Union (EU) has started proceedings against the UK under the post-Brexit trade deal dispute settlement mechanism regarding the UK’s decision to prohibit the fishing of sand eel in English waters within the North Sea and all Scottish waters. England and Scotland announced a prohibition on commercial sand eel fishing from March 2024, a move conservationists welcomed. […]
The European Parliament has adopted the Nature Restoration Law. The law sets a target for the EU to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. The EU nature restoration law, agreed with member states, will restore degraded ecosystems in all […]
A new Nature Restoration law has been adopted which sets a target for the EU to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. The law received 329 votes in favour, 275 against and 24 abstentions, a margin larger than initially expected. The […]
An investment of €233m to fund 12 European environmental and climate projects was announced by the European Commission on 22 February 2024. As part of the EU’s long-term LIFE programme, Ireland is to receive €15.14m of funding to expand and enforce a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) with its waters. The 12 Europe-wide strategic […]
The European Commission has released a roadmap for its recommendation of a 90% net reduction in EU emissions by 2040. The goal of this is to set the path for climate neutrality by 2050. The Commission believes that setting a 2040 climate target will help European industry, investors, citizens and governments to make decisions in […]
The EU’s most senior court has stopped short of applying overfishing rules across all EU fish stocks in a case taken by Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) and environmental lawyers Client Earth. The EU’s Court of Justice has ruled that EU ministers will be breaking the law if they approve overfishing of target stocks, but […]
The UK fishing industry will have access to 420,000 tonnes of fishing opportunities worth up to £700 million after agreements were reached with the EU and Norway, the UK Government has announced. The deal with the EU has secured UK fishermen access to opportunities of 130,000 tonnes for 2024, worth up to £340 million. The trilateral […]
The European Commission has announced the launch of ‘Fishers of the Future’, an EU-wide participatory project that will examine the future role of fishers in society up to 2050. The project will delve into the hopes, fears, expectations, and needs of fishers to understand how the profession is likely to evolve by 2050. ‘Fishers of the Future’ […]