European Union

Press briefing ahead of the Eurogroup meeting will take place on 3 July 2025 at 14.00. 

Council approves a joint EU-OACPS statement for the 4th UN Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4).

Written by Jurgita Lekaviciute with Oona Lagercrantz.

Initiatives to restore European primary forests and thereby reverse centuries of decline are gaining traction. Such restoration could deliver significant ecological, environmental, climate-related and socio-cultural benefits, ranging from biodiversity conservation, water regulation and climate mitigation, to ecotourism and renewed human relationships with nature. However, a number of challenges and trade-offs need to be addressed, including the lack of primary forest mapping, concerns over human exclusion and potential economic losses.

The Białowieża Forest, located on the border between Poland and Belarus, began growing after the last ice age. It is home to 59 mammal species, 250 bird species, 13 amphibian species and over 12 000 invertebrate species. It also hosts Europe’s largest bison population. It is Europe’s single major ‘primary forest’ and embodies the continent’s natural heritage. However, like the vast majority of Europe’s original forests, Białowieża has been significantly altered, despite conservation efforts dating back to the 16th century. Disturbance rates have seen a significant increase over the past 40 years.

European Union (EU) law, aligning with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), defines a primary forest as a ‘naturally regenerated forest of native tree species, where there are no clearly visible indications of human activities and the ecological processes are not significantly disturbed’. Terms describing forests as ‘primeval’, ‘virgin’ and ‘old-growth’ are often used interchangeably with the term ‘primary’, with each having a slightly different meaning. Current data on European primary forests typically cover old-growth forests, defined as ‘late-successional forests, which contain structures and species which distinguishes them from forests of younger age classes’, such as deadwood. Mapped primary forests total just 3.2 million hectares (less than 3 % of the EU’s total forest area), with around 90 % concentrated in Sweden, Finland, Bulgaria, and Romania. However, there is a significant mapping gap: approximately 4.4 million hectares – an area larger than the Netherlands – remain unmapped.

Due to the very small amount of primary forests in Europe, merely protecting them may not suffice to meet biodiversity targets. Therefore, initiatives to restore primary forests in Europe have gained traction, connected to rewilding efforts. For instance, French botanist Francis Hallé, known for his work on tropical forests, has proposed developing a new primary forest on a lowland cross-border area of around 70 000 hectares – roughly the size of the island of Menorca. Hallé and others want to connect existing wilderness areas that are large enough to sustain megafauna and leave them undisturbed until they recover their original characteristics. However, restoring primary forests is a slow process: approximately 800 years if starting from an existing forest and 1 000 years from bare soil.

Potential impacts and developments

Restoring primary forests in Europe would generate wide-ranging positive ecological, environmental and socio-economic impacts. Primary forests, even when small in size, support biodiversity by providing a home to a broad range of endangered plant and animal species. At a time when only a quarter (27 %) of species protected under EU law have good conservation status, primary forest restoration can help prevent species loss. Primary forests also deliver a range of ecosystem services to humans: they maintain groundwater levels, reduce flood risk and improve soil quality. In primary forests, fallen leaves and organic matter decompose naturally, enriching soil fertility and preventing soil degradation. Primary forests also help mitigate climate change, as they absorb and store significantly higher levels of carbon than newer forests. Moreover, they are more resilient to environmental change, help reduce wildfire risks and mitigate heat waves through their cooling effect.

Restoring primary forests could also create new opportunities for tourism, recreation, and spiritual and aesthetic experiences, ultimately enhancing the quality of life for Europeans. Such restoration projects represent a paradigm shift in human interaction with nature, moving away from strict management towards a ‘free evolution‘ of ecosystems. The effort to restore primary forests has the potential to provide profound meaning for individuals across generations, akin to the construction of cathedrals in Europe centuries ago, highlighting society’s imperative to look towards the future.

A point of contention is the role of humans in primary forests. A key criticism against primary forest restoration is that it reinforces an artificial separation between humans and nature. The question of how an ‘undisturbed’ forest will be defined and enforced needs to be answered. In proposals such as the one by Francis Hallé, humans are allowed to visit but not alter the forest in any way, including by treading on the forest floor. These restrictions could have negative effects on cultural and recreational activities typically associated with forests, such as berry and mushroom picking and walking.

Economic trade-offs also need to be addressed. Restoring primary forests comes with significant opportunity costs for forest business owners, as managed forest areas would need to be set aside, resulting in lost wood product incomes. Farmers and forest owners near primary forests could experience decreased crop or livestock production, leading to economic losses due to natural disturbances like wildfires or insect infestations. These issues highlight the necessity of establishing buffer zones around primary forests and providing for compensation schemes for affected landowners.

In addition, restoring primary forests would require resources to monitor and strictly protect existing primary forests and areas designated for restoration. To achieve this, technology – including artificial intelligence, drones, satellite imagery and remote sensing technologies, such as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), which uses lasers to create 3D models of the Earth’s surface – will be indispensable. Remote sensing technologies can play a crucial role in mapping primary and old-growth forests, especially in inaccessible areas, by providing efficient, large-scale and less labour-intensive biodiversity data.

Anticipatory policymaking

The EU’s network of protected areas, Natura 2000, plays a pivotal role in conserving existing primary and old-growth forests. About 93 % of the mapped primary and old-growth forests are part of the Natura 2000 network, and 87 % are strictly protected. However, these figures should be interpreted cautiously due to mapping gaps. The EU biodiversity strategy to 2030, part of the European Green Deal, aims to protect 30 % of the EU’s land and 30 % of its sea areas, with 10 % under strict protection – including all remaining primary and old-growth forests. The goal is to prevent logging and preserve their ecosystem services. Under the EU forest strategy to 2030, the European Commission released guidelines in March 2023 to enhance the protection of these vital ecosystems. The guidelines assist national authorities in identifying, mapping, monitoring and strictly protecting remaining primary and old-growth forests, providing identification criteria and suggested timelines for conservation efforts.

The proposed forest monitoring law, which is currently being discussed in the European Parliament, seeks to implement an EU-wide integrated forest monitoring framework to improve data-sharing on the state of forests in the EU. If adopted, it would require all Member States to map and share the location of their primary forests by 1 January 2028.

The EU Nature Restoration Law, enacted in August 2024, aims to restore at least 20 % of the EU’s land by 2030, as well as all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. This law provides a legal framework for measures to restore degraded forest ecosystems that go beyond the restoration of forest habitats protected under the EU Habitats Directive.

Finally, the EU Climate Law sets a binding 2050 climate neutrality target and a 55 % emissions cut by 2030, indirectly supporting the protection of primary forests as vital carbon sinks.

Read this ‘at a glance’ note on ‘What if Europe restored its primary forests?‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

This week gave us cause to appraise the position of media within the Schuman environs. It's a debate that representatives of the Fourth Estate are always up for.

No one is denying the climate crisis. Yet a go-it-alone strategy won’t save the planet. It will only destroy what remains of the European economy and the unprecedented prosperity the continent once enjoyed.

The resolution aims to address the chronic challenges faced by over 300 million people globally. The WHO Director-General will lead stakeholders in crafting a detailed, actionable roadmap.

Further roadblocks are expected to be erected this weekend.

German mainstream parties refuse to engage with the AfD at a national level.

Written by Mar Negreiro.

Deepfakes – videos, images and audio created using artificial intelligence (AI) to realistically simulate or fabricate content – are booming on the internet. They are becoming increasingly accessible, as what previously required powerful tools can now be done with free mobile apps and limited digital skills. At the same time, they are becoming increasingly sophisticated and therefore more difficult to detect, especially audio deepfakes. While deepfakes have applications in entertainment and creativity, their potential for spreading fake news, creating non-consensual content and undermining trust in digital media is problematic, as they are evolving faster than existing legislative frameworks. A projected 8 million deepfakes will be shared in 2025, up from 500 000 in 2023. The European Commission states that pornographic material accounts for about 98 % of deepfakes.

Deepfakes pose greater risks for children than adults, as children’s cognitive abilities are still developing and children have more difficulty identifying deepfakes. Children are also more susceptible to harmful online practices including grooming, cyberbullying and child sexual abuse material. This highlights the need for legal action and cooperation, including developing the tools and methods needed to tackle these threats at the required scale and pace. Furthermore, there is a growing need for enhanced generative AI literacy for children, educators and parents. There is also a need for increased industry efforts and better implementation of relevant European Union (EU) legislation such as the Artificial Intelligence Act and the Digital Services Act. Monitoring indicators on children’s online use at the EU level are currently non-existent, highlighting the need for their implementation.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Children and deepfakes‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Since coming to power earlier this year, the new German coalition government had championed a more restrictive line on migration, both at home and at the EU level.

Police had “no information" to suggest a cyber or terror attack had taken place.

Move follows a months-long investigation seen as retaliation for EU tariffs on Chinese EVs.

The US government plans to halt deliveries of certain weapons to Ukraine. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on Wednesday that a comprehensive review was underway to determine which weapons systems would be affected, but that there were still robust options for the provision of military aid to the country. Commentators discuss motives and potential consequences.

The US Congress passed the new tax and spending bill presented by President Trump as his "big, beautiful bill". Among other things, it provides for lower income tax rates, expanded tax breaks for businesses and higher child tax credits. These measures are to be partially offset by spending cuts, primarily in the areas of health and education.