To claim that the Birds Directive is at the root of the nitrogen crisis is quite a stretch. If anything, it is the Habitats Directive from 1992 (as you correctly refer to in your original piece on this subject) because it contains the legal base for the "verslechteringsverbod" (art. 6.2) which is the main point of contention in the various legal cases we saw in the Netherlands. But even then, that is a gross simplification that neglects a whole range of other factors.
To claim that the Birds Directive is at the root of the nitrogen crisis is quite a stretch. If anything, it is the Habitats Directive from 1992 (as you correctly refer to in your original piece on this subject) because it contains the legal base for the "verslechteringsverbod" (art. 6.2) which is the main point of contention in the various legal cases we saw in the Netherlands. But even then, that is a gross simplification that neglects a whole range of other factors.