The IWG was established at AC 25 as an ad hoc group, under the name Review the Methodology of Assessing Conservation Status of Bat Species in the Article 17 reports. It was reconvened at AC 27 with as IWG on Improving Methodologies of Assessment of Favourable Conservation Status in Bats. 

 In accordance with Target 4 of the EU Bat Action plan (Issue: Lack of capacity or common approach to assess bats population trends and defining conservation status; Target: Capacity building sufficiently developed with common approaches to assess population trends and bat's conservation statutes), this group planned to:  1. Analyse current practices based on publicly available data, as in the EEA platform from 2019 -2024 period Article 17 Reporting, as well as the availability of (robust/non-robust) data and methods and estimators to assess the viability-data needed and compile the information in a scientific paper; 2. Give examples of good practice per parameter assessment; 3. Make recommendations to improve practice regarding bats for data assessment for the viability indicators, and the thereof derived assessment of favourable conservation status; 4. Propose capacity building to improve data assessment and evaluation of favourable conservation status; 5. Explore possibility of having EUROBATS as an observer in the Expert Group of Reporting under Nature Directives (in the meantime comments were to be made through members of the Expert Group of each country). It was also suggested that the group may use the outcomes of the work of the IWG on Monitoring and Indicators regarding current practices across EUROBATS based on the questionnaire that had already been circulated by Climbats COST Action WG2 to EUROBATS experts.