Europe's bottlenecks to the operationalisation of Essential Biodiversity Variables for Environmental Policy Support

The operationalisation of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) is critical for assessing whether conservation and restoration measures effectively meet the biodiversity objectives outlined in national and international commitments such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. EBVs provide a standardized framework of biological measurements that enable the evaluation, reporting, and management of biodiversity changes across time, space, and biological levels. At the EU scale, the Europa Biodiversity Observation Network (EuropaBON) identified 84 EBVs that are key to supporting EU environmental policies. Here, we evaluated 17 coordinated European monitoring programmes to identify bottlenecks in biodiversity data flows that could operationalise EBVs across freshwater, terrestrial, and marine realms in Europe. We evaluated these bottlenecks using a qualitative framework applicable across taxonomic, spatio-temporal, and ecosystem scales. Our analysis identified several persistent challenges to the operationalisation of EBVs at supranational scales: misalignment between monitoring data outputs and EBV definitions; insufficient taxonomic, spatial, and temporal coverage; limited open access to raw data and data products, and incomplete automation of end-to-end data workflows. Certain taxonomic groups-including freshwater zooplankton, lichens, terrestrial arthropods, and crop pests-remain underrepresented, while marine EBVs are constrained by fragmented monitoring and inconsistent protocols. To overcome these challenges, securing long-term funding, coordinated hubs, harmonized protocols, and enhanced data integration are essential. These measures will enable the delivery of EBVs in Europe that comply with FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and CARE (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, Ethics) principles, supporting robust biodiversity policy assessments in Europe.