A contraction of the two words ‘biological’ and ‘diversity’, biodiversity refers to the variety of life on earth in general, or the variety of living things in a given ecosystem or region. It covers all living things, ranging from bacteria, plants and animals, to humans.

Biodiversity plays a vital role in ecosystem services, which are the services that nature supplies. These include pollination, climate regulation, flood protection, soil fertility and the supply of food, fuel, fibre and medicines.

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The term ‘comitology’ refers to the set of procedures through which the European Commission exercises the implementing powers conferred on it by the European Union (EU) legislator, with the assistance of committees of representatives from EU Member States.

Under Article 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the EU legislator may empower the Commission to adopt ‘implementing acts’ through specific rules written into a legislative act (the ‘basic act’). This is done when it is necessary to put in place uniform conditions for the implementation of EU law, instead of letting each Member State implement it on its own in a potentially divergent manner.

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Data protection refers to rules regarding the rights of natural persons (individuals) to have their personal data (any information that relates to an identified or identifiable living person) protected and the duties of public authorities, businesses and other organisations to protect these data.

The right to the protection of personal data is a fundamental right enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights . It belongs to the set of values protected under Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union and it contributes to the realisation of the EU’s objectives under Article 3 of the treaty.

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A directive is a legal act adopted by the EU institutions addressed to the EU Member States and, as laid down in Article 288 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, is binding as to the result to be achieved. A directive is part of the EU’s secondary law, the body of law that derives from the principles and objectives set out in the EU treaties (primary law).

The national authorities of each EU country to which the directive is addressed determine the form and the methods they use to incorporate the directive into their national law (formally known as ‘transposition’). Generally, this needs to be done within 2 years of the directive’s adoption.

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