The European Union's Birds Directive is the foundation of EU legislation on bird protection and the sustainability of hunting. The directive has been in force since the late 1970s, and it is important for understanding the context in which FACE was established as the European federation of hunters. The legal text of the directive has not changed over time, while the directive itself has periodically been subject to thorough scrutiny and evaluation; in particular, through the fitness check of the nature directives carried out around ten years ago, which overall points to the directive's durability over time.

The Habitats Directive, adopted in the early 1990s, complements the Birds Directive by establishing a framework for the protection of habitats and species of European importance, including through the Natura 2000 network. The directive has been in force for more than 30 years, it has retained its legal stability through evaluation and review, and it forms what is known as the second pillar of Europe's nature conservation framework.

In a recent announcement, the European Commission stated that the Birds and Habitats Directives will be subjected to a "stress test" (review) in 2026, during which a number of significant aspects will be taken into account, including climate change, food security, competitiveness, resilience, developments in case law, the need for legal certainty and more.

The most recent evaluation of the two directives concluded that they remain fit for purpose within the European Union's wider biodiversity policy framework; the evaluation found, however, that significant improvements in their implementation are needed if the directives are to deliver the intended results.

FACE will follow this process closely, as any changes to the two directives could have a direct impact on hunting in Europe, through habitat protection measures or changes to the lists of huntable species.