This article focuses on appraising the progress of efforts by the European Union (EU) to address the issue of invasive alien species (IAS) affecting the Union. IAS have been identified as being a significant challenge for environmental authorities world-wide in seeking to uphold, develop and promote policies concerning biodiversity protection. In 2014, the Union first adopted a legislative instrument intended to provide the basis for the EU to apply its objective on ensuring that effective measures are deployed to eliminate or at least minimize the environmental threats posed by the intended or unintended introduction of biotic species of flora or fauna with invasive impacts into the Union, namely Regulation 1143/2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of IAS (the IAS Regulation) . After over a decade since the EU regulation’s adoption, the European Commission has the opportunity to present an appraisal of the fortunes of the IAS Regulation and signal its preference for any prospective legislative reforms to be made. The prospective second implementation report on the IAS Regulation, expected in late 2026, should shed some light on the Commission’s thinking about the current and future role the IAS Regulation should play in contributing to the evolution of EU biodiversity policy.
European Energy and Environmental Law Review