The Council of the EU finally adopted the Nature Restoration Law on Monday, a cornerstone of the European Green Deal, after months of delay.
The law aims to protect nature by focusing on the restoration of Europe’s peatlands, rivers, forests and oceans. All Member States are now required to revive at least 20% of the bloc's degraded ecosystems (land and seas) by 2o30, and all ecosystems must be restored by 2050.
It was passed with the backing of 20 Member States, with Italy, Hungary, Poland, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden voting against it and Belgium abstaining.
"Healthy ecosystems are essential for the climate, biodiversity, and for agriculture," said Greens/EFA MEP Terry Reintke. "This law is crucial in order for the EU to achieve the Paris climate goal, and it’s now important the EU Member States fully implement it."
'Months of uncertainty'
The adoption marks the end of a two-year legislative journey characterised by controversy. The conservative European People’s Party (EPP) had contested the bill from day one in an attempt to hold onto its agricultural voter base.
A diluted version of the legislation made it past the European Parliament last November only to be shelved indefinitely by the Belgian Presidency in March.
On Monday, the plan to vote on the law was first postponed at an informal meeting between EU Ministers, but when Austria indicated that its position had changed over the weekend, the possibility of a qualified majority was back on the table. Austrian Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler defied the country's ruling coalition's stance on the Nature Restoration Law at the last minute, stating that "the time for decisiveness has come".
Austria's last minute U-turn on the nature restoration law has created political troubles at home. On Monday, it emerged that Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer wrote a letter to Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (as head of the Belgian EU Presidency) explaining that Gewessler was not "entitled" to approve the law, as there was a "lack of consensus" in the coalition, according to Euronews.
The green minister Gewessler disputed this in another letter, saying the chancellor's letter was "incorrect" and did "not reflect the Austrian situation". In the letter, she argues that consensus was not needed to inform the voting intention of a minister, adding that she "regrets" that the Belgian EU Presidency "has become involved in Austrian domestic political disputes."
Following the approval of the law on Monday, there were collective sighs of relief on the more left-side of the European Parliament.
"After months of uncertainty and political games, I am relieved that the Nature Restoration Law has finally been approved by the Council," commented Mohammed Chahim, S&D vice-president of the Green Deal. "Restoring nature is essential to meet our climate targets and will bring numerous benefits to farmers, such as revitalising soils and supporting pollinators, buffering them from the worsening impacts of climate change."
In Belgium, the French-speaking green party Ecolo has hailed the adoption of the EU nature restoration law as a "victory for nature" and a "success for the Belgian EU Presidency".
The regulation will be published in the EU’s Official Journal and will come into effect 20 days later.
