The EU Parliament approved the EU renaturation law on Tuesday with a narrow majority. The controversial compromise to restore nature has thus cleared the penultimate hurdle before coming into force. Now the Council of the Member States must agree again. This is expected in March.
329 parliamentarians voted in favor, 275 against. 24 abstained from voting. The Austrian parliamentarians were again not unanimous: while the SPÖ, the Greens and the NEOS voted yes, the majority of the ÖVP and FPÖ voted against.
Central part of the “Green Deal”
The law is a central part of the comprehensive climate protection package “Green Deal”, which aims to make the EU climate neutral by 2050. It sets out the European Commission’s target to introduce renaturation measures for at least 20 percent of all land and sea areas in the EU by 2030. How this happens is up to the individual EU countries.
The European People’s Party (EPP), including the ÖVP, in particular denounced the project, partly because it feared strict requirements for farmers. Social Democrats, Greens and parts of the Liberals campaigned for it.
The draft Nature Recovery Act originally required Member States to take mandatory measures to restore ecosystems that are in poor condition: at least 20 percent by 2030, 60 percent by 2040 and 90 percent of affected areas by 2050.
Only compromise could avoid rejection
After strong opposition from the EPP, joined by parts of the Liberal group, the proposed law was narrowly avoided being completely rejected in the European Parliament. The compromise adopted on Tuesday significantly weakens the original objectives. Numerous exceptions are intended to prevent excessive restrictions on agriculture.
ÖVP MP Lukas Mandl repeated his rejection in Strasbourg on Tuesday. He hopes that ministers in the Council will not implement the law so easily. SPÖ delegation leader Andreas Schieder regretted on Tuesday the “watered-down compromise on a central point of the Green Deal”. He “doesn’t quite understand the boring anti-green populism.” Austria already has large national parks and protected areas. “The farmers were afraid for their financial resources, but that is also guaranteed,” Schieder sees as a “politically symbolic issue.”
FPÖ: “Attack on farmers”
“The EU is currently waging a campaign of destruction against its own farmers,” said liberal MEP Roman Haider. “Behind this beautiful title lies a serious attack on our farmers. With its Green Deal, of which the Renaturation Act is part, the EU is increasingly becoming a serious threat to European agricultural production.”
“Most parts of the Austrian forest landscape already meet the conditions today,” says Green MEP Thomas Waitz. “The measures are almost too weak. I don’t understand how you can still be against it.” His NEOS colleague Claudia Gamon also emphasized that “the objections come late. The EPP was involved in the Green Deal from the start.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
