A notice of meeting and provisional agenda published by the EU Council schedules a meeting of the Working Party on International Environment Issues (Biodiversity) for 16 July 2026 at 10:00 in the Justus Lipsius Building, Brussels. The meeting will coordinate EU positions for key international biodiversity negotiations later in 2026, including those under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), the Bern Convention, and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
No prior coverage of this file exists in the last 180 days, so the meeting represents a fresh round of EU coordination on biodiversity diplomacy. The agenda covers three main international frameworks. Under the CMS, the Presidency will inform on a table of notifications, a Standing Committee report, and preparations for the Raptors MoU Fourth Meeting of Signatories (MOS4) scheduled for 30 November to 2 December 2026 in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The Presidency will also report on outcomes of the Eurobats Standing Committee (26th meeting) and Advisory Committee (30th meeting) held in Bonn, Germany, on 5–8 May 2026, and the AEWA Standing Committee 29th meeting (virtual, 26–27 August 2026).
Under the Bern Convention, the Presidency will inform on Bureaux reports, an informal expert group meeting on Rules of Procedure changes, and the 3rd meeting of the Working Group on mechanisms to guide appendix amendments (online, 8 September 2026). For the CBD, the Presidency will inform on Bureaux reports and a table of notifications. Discussion will cover preparations for SBSTTA28 (Nairobi, Kenya, 27 July – 1 August 2026) and SBI7 (Nairobi, Kenya, 4–12 August 2026), including organisational matters and orientation lines or position papers. A discussion on draft Council Conclusions for COP17, Cartagena Protocol 12th meeting, and Nagoya Protocol 6th meeting (Yerevan, Armenia, 19–30 October 2026) is also scheduled. Any other business will follow.
The meeting impacts several stakeholders. EU member states will need to align their national positions with the agreed EU lines, potentially limiting flexibility in negotiations. EU negotiators will have a coordinated mandate, strengthening their bargaining power. Environmental NGOs may see the EU's unified stance as either ambitious or insufficient, depending on the content of the position papers. Industry sectors reliant on biodiversity resources (e.g., agriculture, forestry, pharmaceuticals) could face regulatory implications from the outcomes of the CBD meetings, particularly on access and benefit-sharing under the Nagoya Protocol. The meeting itself is procedural, but the positions agreed will shape EU influence in the upcoming international meetings.