What has the EU ever done for my … fellow creatures?

EU directives have helped to protect an array of animals - even though agricultural policy has sometimes had a negative effect

From the sea to the land to the air, EU directives on habitats and birds have protected and enabled the recovery of wildlife, including dolphins, orchids and butterflies and the booming marsh-dwelling bird the bittern.

But, with the intensification of farming having seriously harmed wildlife in past decades, the impact of the EU's huge common agricultural policy (CAP), has often been in the opposite direction.