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The implementation of the EU Nature Directives forms the basis of any efforts for the conservation and restoration of biological diversity in Germany and the whole EU. A comprehensive Fitness Check of the Directives in 2016 identified the lack of sufficient financing as a key reason for limited progress in this regard. In particular financial means are missing to create economic incentives for land users so they undertake targeted conservation measures. In 2018 the German Federal Government quantified this financing deficit to almost one billion EUR annually for Germany. For the EU level environmental organisations estimate a need of 20 billion EUR annually as opposed to current financial mobilisation of maximum 2–3 billion EUR. This paper investigates aspects and underlying causes of this deficit in Germany and at EU level, as well as key recommendations to address it. Especially important is in this context future legally binding ring fencing of sufficient funding in the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) that currently is under negotiation for the period 2021- 2027. Another key element is a greater competence and binding role of the relevant conservation authorities and their planning tools at all levels. The paper concludes with a political outlook for chances of better EU nature financing in the next EU budget period. Hereby the European Commission's proposals for the future CAP have been briefly analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]