The European Anglers Alliance (EAA) is part of the Living Rivers Europe (LRE) coalition, together with leading European environmental organisations. Through this coalition, EAA advocates for ambitious, legally binding river restoration targets that address the severe degradation of Europe’s freshwater ecosystems.
Freshwater habitats are among the most damaged ecosystems in Europe, with widespread river fragmentation and declining biodiversity undermining water quality, climate resilience and fish populations. The proposed EU Nature Restoration Law represents a critical opportunity to reverse these trends by restoring river connectivity and scaling up barrier removal. However, given the scale and urgency of freshwater degradation, stronger targets, clearer priorities and adequate funding are needed to ensure meaningful and timely restoration outcomes.
This is a joint statement by the Living Rivers Europe (LRE) coalition, bringing together the European Anglers Alliance (EAA), the European Environmental Bureau, the European Rivers Network, The Nature Conservancy, Wetlands International and WWF.
Together, we urge the European Parliament and the Council, acting as co-legislators on the EU Nature Restoration Law, to:
- Raise the barrier removal target to 15% of EU river length (178,000 km) restored to a free-flowing state by 2030 and make it legally binding;
- Remove the highlight given to exemptions to the Water Framework Directive and TEN-T regulation to ensure proper implementation.
- Ask Member States to prioritise barrier removals according to the ecological potential of the removal, in particular the connectivity between marine and freshwater ecosystems.
- Ask Member States to include in their national restoration plans a description of the simplification of procedures and skill-building measures necessary to enable river restoration projects to be carried out efficiently and with the necessary public engagement.
- Increase the intermediary percentage targets laid out in Article 4 for the restoration and re-establishment of areas and the restoration of habitats of species, and shorten the timeline for reaching 100%, as this article also covers some freshwater ecosystems and those restoration actions would also complement the action on river connectivity.
- Call on the European institutions to expand the EU financing support available for free-flowing river restoration in addition to the sources identified in the EU Guidance on barrier removal for river restoration, for example, through the establishment of dedicated funding for nature restoration, pursuant to the mid-term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework.
