The European Anglers Alliance is one of the six NGOs gathered in the Living Rivers Europe (LRE) Coalition. The other members of the LRE are the European Environmental Bureau, the European Rivers Network, The Nature Conservancy, Wetlands International and WWF.

Freshwater ecosystems are one of the most degraded in Europe, with freshwater molluscs and fish the two most threatened animal groups and 60% of surface waters failing to reach good ecological status. The fitness check of the Water Framework Directive concluded that the main reasons for failure are for a large part connected to insufficient measures to tackle diffuse pollution coming from agriculture, and the hydromorphological changes affecting water bodies. Restoring freshwater ecosystems is therefore a necessity to sustain the natural functions of rivers, lakes and wetlands. Only with healthy, biodiverse water bodies can we allow nature to thrive, ensure clean and sufficient water supply, and resilience to climate change impacts.

The EU Nature Restoration Law proposed by the European Commission in June 2022 introduces new obligations to restore the health of fresh waters. It sets targets for the restoration of freshwater ecosystems alongside coastal and terrestrial ones, which include the restoration and re-establishment of areas, the restoration of habitats of species and the non-deterioration of the areas after restoration (article 4). It also sets obligations to remove river barriers in order to improve the natural longitudinal and lateral connectivity of rivers and contribute to the EU’s objective of restoring at least 25,000 km of free-flowing rivers by 2030 (article 7). Those targets complement the obligations of the Water Framework Directive and the Nature Directives, and will contribute to improving the ecological status and the biological diversity of rivers, lakes and wetlands. While it is positive and important that the proposal contains a focus on restoring freshwater ecosystems, we strongly believe those targets fall short of the rate and to the extent that is currently needed recognising the significant degradation of our water environment.