The popular birds and habitats directives protect almost a fifth of Europe’s landmass, about 200 wetlands, meadows and marine habitats, and more than a thousand animal and plant species.

But shortly after taking office in 2014, Juncker began a review to overhaul the nature laws (pdf) and make them more business-friendly, sparking an internal battle at the commission.

But on Wednesday the laws were declared “fit for purpose” without a vote and as campaigners celebrated, the environment commissioner, Karmenu Vella, hailed what he said was a win for nature in Europe.

“We have listened to public opinion very carefully,” he told the Guardian. “The main message sent is that these two directives are a milestone when it comes to environmental habitats and species [protections]. We need better and smarter implementation but these problems can be solved with non-legislative action. The directives will not be reopened.”

A record 550,000 people took part in an online consultation (pdf) about the future of the EU nature directives, with 520,000 respondents – 94% of the total – calling for the laws to be left alone. An EU consultants report (pdf) last March concluded the two laws were efficient, coherent, relevant and fit for purpose, but the paper was never published.

David Cameron pledged to protect the directives during the EU referendum campaign, as anger at any slashing of natural safeguards to appease farming and industrial lobbies grew across Europe.

“This is a huge win for wildlife,” said Alice Puritz, a lawyer for the NGO ClientEarth. “These laws work and should be celebrated. Now, we need to see strong implementation and enforcement, to make sure Europe’s nature gets the protection it needs to thrive.”

“Nature is a key value of our society and necessary for our survival,” said Ariel Brunner, the policy chief at BirdLife Europe. “This is also a victory for the idea of European cooperation as nature knows no boundaries.”

The Liberal Democrat MEP, Catherine Bearder, said: “I am absolutely thrilled by this news. The battle to protect UK nature has been won.”

WWF’s advocacy director, Trevor Hutchings, said: “As we exit from the EU we must ensure these protections are enshrined in UK law and enhanced through the government’s welcome commitment to a 25-year environment plan.”

Amid uncertainty about the future of the directives in post-Brexit Britain, the UN environment programme’s director, Erik Solheim, also called for the laws to be kept on the UK’s statute books.

Friends of the Earth said urgent moves were needed to improve enforcement of the nature laws in the UK – and to protect them after Brexit. “The need for enforcement is particularly keen in Northern Ireland where there has been systemic failure to protect sites covered by the directives,” said Sandra Bell, the green group’s nature campaigner.

In the Lough Neagh and Lough Beg special protection area, the Northern Irish government has recently approved a highway to carry 22,000 vehicles a day through valuable winter feeding areas for migratory birds that should be protected, Bell said.

“This decision must and will be challenged,” she said. “It shows why EU nature laws are so important, but also why the European commission needs to clamp down on the regular instances where these laws are being breached.”

The commission says that it will now draw up an action plan to scale up investment and good management practices in Natura 2000 sites – protected areas which were created by the two directives.

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