“As agreed during the meeting on Thursday,” Sinkevičius wrote, “our experts have now looked as thoroughly as possible into the new Slovak law amending the Civil Protection Act and the Nature Act, and I am happy to share with you that they conclude that the new law appears to be largely in compliance with the EU Habitats Directive.”

But there were “some provisions, where conformity with EU law will very much depend on how these provisions will be applied,” he added.

Taraba ignored those caveats, telling POLITICO the Commission had found them in “full compliance”…