Overview

• The fourth Modernisierungsgesetz, unveiled on August 11, would abolish mandatory reports on biotope networks, organic agriculture and the overall state of nature.
• Organizers of the 2019 'Rettet die Bienen' referendum and parties including the Greens and ÖDP say the bill ignores the will of 1.7 million signatories and dub it a "Naturschutz-Verhinderungs-Gesetz."
• Norbert Schäffer of the Landesbund für Vogel- und Naturschutz and Green deputy Ludwig Hartmann assert that data-driven reports are as vital to conservation as a thermometer is to medical diagnosis.
• This proposal follows the third Modernisierungsgesetz’s rollback of environmental impact assessments for ski lifts, slopes and snowmaking, which drew EU alpine protection concerns.
• The Bavarian government defends the package as essential bureaucracy reduction, also aiming to scrap gender equality reporting to streamline administration.