Regulation 1143/2014 has yet to curb the European Union’s invasive species crisis
Abstract
The European Union’s flagship legislation on invasive species, Regulation 1143/2014, was intended to deliver coordinated biosecurity across Member States. However, it continues to fall short of its ambitious goals as enforcement remains inconsistent, ecological priorities are often overridden by economic interests, taxonomic, geographic and ecosystem biases, and practical on-the-ground management is severely underfunded. Only 114 species are included in the list of species of Union concern, whereas over 13,000 non-native species are already established and new ones continue to arrive. Moreover, most of the few species listed continue to spread. Despite raising awareness, its reliance on a slow, politically burdened species list has limited its effectiveness, while adding new species every few years has become more of a symbolic gesture with questionable practical value. A shift toward proactive, science-based pathway management is therefore not only warranted but urgently needed to meet the EU’s ambitious biodiversity targets. We highlight key policy directions to facilitate this transition towards an improved management of biological invasions.
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BibTeX
@misc{haubrock2026regulation,
title = {{Regulation 1143/2014 has yet to curb the European Union’s invasive species crisis}},
author = {Phillip Joschka Haubrock and Teun Everts and Ronaldo Sousa and Emili Garcia-Berthou and Ismael Soto Almena and Melina Kourantidou and Antonin Kouba and Stelios Katsanevakis Katsanevakis and J. Robert Britton},
howpublished = {EcoEvoRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.32942/x26d78},
url = {https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/15142/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Regulation 1143/2014 has yet to curb the European Union’s invasive species crisis
AU - Phillip Joschka Haubrock
AU - Teun Everts
AU - Ronaldo Sousa
AU - Emili Garcia-Berthou
AU - Ismael Soto Almena
AU - Melina Kourantidou
AU - Antonin Kouba
AU - Stelios Katsanevakis Katsanevakis
AU - J. Robert Britton
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/22
PB - EcoEvoRxiv
DO - 10.32942/x26d78
UR - https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/15142/
AB - The European Union’s flagship legislation on invasive species, Regulation 1143/2014, was intended to deliver coordinated biosecurity across Member States. However, it continues to fall short of its ambitious goals as enforcement remains inconsistent, ecological priorities are often overridden by economic interests, taxonomic, geographic and ecosystem biases, and practical on-the-ground management is severely underfunded. Only 114 species are included in the list of species of Union concern, whereas over 13,000 non-native species are already established and new ones continue to arrive. Moreover, most of the few species listed continue to spread. Despite raising awareness, its reliance on a slow, politically burdened species list has limited its effectiveness, while adding new species every few years has become more of a symbolic gesture with questionable practical value. A shift toward proactive, science-based pathway management is therefore not only warranted but urgently needed to meet the EU’s ambitious biodiversity targets. We highlight key policy directions to facilitate this transition towards an improved management of biological invasions.
ER -