The European Commission has opened an online public consultation on simplifying environmental regulations, running from 31 March to 7 May 2026. This initiative aims to streamline environmental reporting obligations and related regulatory requirements, in support of the EU’s agenda “Simplifying for sustainable competitiveness”.
The full CARDIMED consultation response is now published on the European Commission’s online portal. The project’s consortium used the consultation to consolidate a common position on several key policy areas covered by the simplification package.
- Recommendations for the Nitrates Directive
CARDIMED proposes simplifying and strengthening nutrient management by introducing standard nutrient footprint metrics at farm level, based on nitrogen and phosphorus balances per hectare and per unit of output. It recommends also replacing fragmented indicators with one harmonised nutrient balance metric linked to Nitrates Directive reporting and promoting standardised digital farm‑level accounting tools that automatically calculate footprints from existing Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and fertilizer data, reducing manual reporting and enabling risk‑based inspections.
- Recommendations for site permitting procedures
CARDIMED calls for more efficient, integrated environmental permitting for Nature‑based Solutions (NbS) projects. It suggests merging different assessments (Environmental Impact Assessment, Strategic Environmental Assessment, Habitats, water) into one coordinated process, fast‑tracking permits for low‑impact NbS projects (e.g. wetlands, urban greening) and digitalising permitting with interoperable platforms, data reuse and standard templates to reduce delays and duplication.
- Recommendations for the Water Framework Directive and Extended Producer Responsibility
CARDIMED warns against any simplification that would weaken core Water Framework Directive (WFD) objectives, such as “good status,” and instead argues for streamlined, coordinated reporting. CARDIMED proposes a single digital reporting backbone for WFD, Groundwater and Environmental Quality Standards directives, clearer interfaces with related laws (Nitrates, urban wastewater, mining, Critical Raw Materials), guidance on WFD compatibility for new infrastructure, and simpler Extended Producer Responsibility rules that let small producers comply via collective schemes.
- Recommendations for Nature protection legislation
CARDIMED suggests auto‑filling most information from existing WFD, nature, CAP and marine reporting, providing pre‑populated GIS layers and model National Restoration Plans with sector‑specific guidance, plus technical workshops and good‑practice examples to reduce capacity and transaction costs.
- Recommendations for the Industrial & Livestock Emissions Directive
CARDIMED supports simpler Environmental Management System (EMS) content that still covers key risks (ammonia, methane, nitrates, manure management), allows company‑level EMS for multiple sites with clear site‑specific details, and replaces free‑form reporting with short standard templates.
On water, energy and materials, it stresses that simplification must not undermine monitoring of Green Deal goals; instead, resource‑use data should be integrated into e‑permitting and digital farm systems, so information is entered once and reused for Industrial Emissions Directive reporting.
