The European Regulation on Nature Restoration No. 1991 of 2024 is entering a new phase this week with the submission of draft national restoration plans to the European Commission, in which the European regions play an implementing role.
Since 1 September 2026, Member States have been required to specify how they intend to apply the European Regulation adopted in 2024 within their territories, whilst a dialogue organised on 4 September in Trier by the European Committee of the Regions is set to examine the practical difficulties faced by local authorities.
From European targets to national plans
The European Regulation on nature restoration, which came into force on 18 August 2024, sets binding targets for the restoration of degraded ecosystems. In particular, the European Union aims to implement restoration measures across at least 20 per cent of its land and marine areas by 2030, before gradually extending these measures to ecosystems requiring restoration by 2050.
1 September 2026 marked the first major deadline for its implementation. Member States were required to submit their draft national restoration plans to the Commission, in accordance with a common format adopted in 2025. These documents must set out the measures planned to achieve the various targets by 2030 and provide a strategic outlook up to 2040 and 2050.
The Commission, with the support of the European Environment Agency, now has six months to examine each draft and provide its comments. Member States will then have a further six months to adopt and publish their final plans, around 1 September 2027.
A European policy played out at regional and local level
The preparation of the plans remains the responsibility of the Member States, but their implementation depends largely on regional and local circumstances. Indeed, the regulation allows measures to be tailored to the ecological, geographical and socio-economic characteristics of different regions. The Commission itself emphasises that the involvement of relevant stakeholders is necessary to ensure that the measures are adapted to local conditions and can be effectively implemented.
This aspect concerns areas in which local and regional authorities often have significant powers: spatial planning, management of green spaces, watercourses, forests, risk prevention, agricultural policies and urban infrastructure.
The German case illustrates this particularly well, the preparation of the national plan involves the sixteen Länder and the local authorities. The Länder, which exercise a large proportion of Germany’s powers in the field of nature conservation, must themselves contribute to the measures incorporated into the federal plan.
Nature restoration thus becomes a multi-level governance exercise: the objectives are European, the plans are national, but a significant proportion of the decisions and their implementation take place at regional and local levels.
In Trier, four cities share their experiences
It is precisely this issue that the European Committee of the Regions intends to address on 4 September in Trier, Germany. The local dialogue on the municipal implementation of the regulation will bring together political and administrative leaders from Trier, Saarbrücken, Metz and Luxembourg.
The choice of these four cities is significant. They belong to three different Member States but are united within the same European cross-border area. They must therefore implement common objectives through different administrative systems, planning rules and financial instruments.
The meeting is not merely intended to reiterate the regulation’s environmental objectives. Participants will identify the challenges faced by local authorities and explore practical solutions. Local elected representatives will take part in a round-table discussion with experts.
Trier can thus serve as a testing ground for an issue that will gradually affect all European local authorities: how can a European objective for ecosystem restoration be translated into enforceable and funded local decisions?
Cities are directly affected
The obligations relating to urban ecosystems demonstrate just how much this European policy can have local implications.
By 31 December 2030, Member States must ensure that, compared with 2024, there is no net loss of the total national area of urban green spaces and tree cover in the relevant urban areas. From 2031 onwards, they must achieve an upward trend in green spaces and, within each urban ecosystem area, in tree cover, until a level deemed satisfactory is reached.
These national targets will necessarily be reflected in town planning and the day-to-day management of territories: land-use decisions, the development of green infrastructure, the planting and conservation of trees, the restoration of certain areas, and the integration of new construction with the protection of biodiversity.
The regulation also covers the restoration of habitats, forests, agricultural and marine ecosystems, as well as the continuity of watercourses. In particular, it sets the EU the target of restoring at least 25,000 kilometres of free-flowing watercourses by 2030, notably by removing artificial barriers that are no longer needed.
Luxembourg has opted for a regional consultation process
Luxembourg already provides an example of how a state can involve regional stakeholders in the development of its plan.
In spring 2026, the government submitted its national draft for consultation, involving citizens, local authorities, professional organisations, associations and other relevant stakeholders. Thematic working groups and regional workshops were also organised to discuss territorial priorities and challenges.
The measures envisaged include, in particular, the renaturation of watercourses, the restoration of degraded forests, habitats favourable to pollinators, sustainable soil management and the development of green infrastructure in urban areas.
This approach highlights an issue that will extend beyond the consultation phase alone. In fact, the success of the plans will depend on the ability of Member States to ensure continued local involvement when the time comes to select projects, allocate responsibilities and secure the necessary funding.
The issue of funding
The Commission recognises that implementation will require both public and private resources. European instruments already fund actions that support nature restoration, whilst many Member States, regions and municipalities have their own programmes.
However, the issue will take on particular importance with the next European financial framework for 2028–2034.
In its proposal, the Commission plans to incorporate national restoration plans into the 35 per cent target for expenditure on climate and the environment, particularly in future national and regional partnership plans. It must conduct a more in-depth analysis of financial requirements once the national proposals have been submitted and European budget negotiations have progressed.
Nature restoration thus forms part of a wider debate on the Union’s next budget and on the role of local and regional authorities in its implementation.
A test for multi-level governance
Two years after the adoption of the regulation, the question is therefore no longer whether the European Union should restore its degraded ecosystems, but how it will manage to do so across such diverse territories.
The projects submitted on 1 September will gradually reveal the extent to which each Member State has involved regions and local authorities in its strategy. The Trier dialogue, taking place a few days later, will provide an initial insight into the difficulties encountered at municipal level.
In this sense, the success of the regulation will depend in part on this coordination between the European, national, regional and local levels. As such, nature restoration also serves as a practical test of the Union’s ability to apply the principle of multi-level governance when European objectives are to be translated into territorial policies.
See also: Multi-level governance and democracy, the Council of Europe and the role of Regions and Cities
