Voting thriller – More than 80 percent in favor of EU renaturation legislation

According to a recent survey, 82 percent of the population is in favor of Austria agreeing to the EU renaturation law. At the same time, more than two-thirds find it “unjustified” that various state governors want to prevent a yes to the law. This is evident from a representative survey by the market institute (1000 online interviews) commissioned by the WWF, which is available for the “Krone”.

It’s about our livelihood
“This is a clear mandate for politicians. In terms of content, everything has long been pointing in favor of Austria’s approval, because it will allow us to safeguard our common livelihood in Europe,” said WWF program manager Hanna Simons in the run-up to the vote in the EU Environment Council on Monday. . “The planned law not only strengthens climate and nature protection, but also Austria’s long-term security. Intact ecosystems are our best allies against the consequences of the climate and biodiversity crisis,” says Simons.

According to the market research, Austria’s adoption of the EU law is strongly supported across party lines – strongest among sympathizers of the Greens, the SPÖ and the NEOS, each with over 90 percent (99 and 97 respectively and 96 percent answering “absolutely” or ‘more like this’). But according to this survey, a majority of declared supporters of the ÖVP and FPÖ would also welcome it if Austria voted in favor of the EU law (a total of 72 and 61 percent answered “certainly” and “probably”).

Austrians generally have a high nature awareness
“The fact that there are majorities here across party lines may seem surprising at first glance, but it is also based on a generally high level of nature awareness. Protecting nature is important to many people. More than 90 percent of respondents believe that society has a responsibility here,” says market research director Birgit Starmayr.

The research results also contain a clear mandate for local politicians: more than 80 percent of respondents demand that they do more to restore destroyed nature – for example, opening up soils or re-naturalizing rivers and heathlands. 90 percent agree with the market’s statement that “intact nature improves protection against disasters and is therefore also a matter of the country’s security.” Almost as many people (88 percent) think it is “particularly important that our nature is consistently protected and restored.” More than 80 percent also agree that there should be binding targets in Austria and Europe.

Austria’s consent possible
There have been heated debates recently in government, but also between the federal and state governments, about whether Gewessler can single-handedly approve regulations at EU level and whether the original blockade by the Länder has been lifted by the adoption of Vienna and Carinthia. According to renowned lawyer Daniel Ennöckl, head of the Institute of Law of BOKU Vienna, the way is clear for approval by the Minister of the Environment as soon as a federal state officially withdraws from the blocking ‘uniform state declaration’.

According to the Federal Constitution (B-VG), you can then agree to the EU regulation without permission from other ministries. Recently, the ÖVP Minister of Agriculture also voted in favor of weakening environmental standards in the Common Agricultural Policy, despite an objection from the Ministry of the Environment. Gewessler keeps a low profile in advance when asked by the “Krone”. Numerous discussions will take place this weekend, her office said.