Adaptation of the habitats and birds directives for the expansion of the European Union

The Birds Directive & the Habitats Directive together are the major EU policy instruments for nature conservation and they both demand the creation of a network of sites which together form the Natura 2000 network. Site selection is based on lists of species and habitats of conservation interest given in annexes to both directives. These annexes reflect the biodiversity of the EU at the time the directive was adopted and with each enlargement of the EU they have been examined and modified to take into account the biodiversity of the new member states. With the recent extension of the EU from 15 to 25 member states a large part of the Carpathians became part of the EU and the inclusion of Romania is expected in the near future. The Candidate Countries (including Romania) were asked to propose changes to the annexes, which were then discussed at various meetings with scientific advice from the ETC-NPB following criteria developed from definitions given in the directives.As the alpine habitats already listed in Annex I of the Habitats Directive are broadly defined relatively few new habitats were added for the Carpathians although some descriptions were modified. Rather more species from the Carpathians were added.