Belgium was on Tuesday one of the few Member States to not support the EU Council's agreement on the nature restoration law, having abstained alongside Austria.
The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Italy and Poland voted against the agreement. Despite the Belgian abstention, a common position was adopted by a majority of EU Ministers of the Environment. The agreement will be used in negotiations with the European Parliament, with both EU bodies having to agree on the law in order for the bill to be enacted.
For the environmental organisation WWF, the Belgian abstention is a "disgrace", as Belgian ministers failed to agree on the law. The Brussels and Walloon Environment ministers supported the proposal, but it was opposed by the Flemish side.
At Tuesday's Council meeting, Belgium was represented by Zuhal Demir, Flemish Environment Minister and member of the Flemish nationalist party N-VA.
"Now that the negotiations are allowed to start, we want to continue to weigh in on the adjustments to the nature restoration law," Demir said after Tuesday's vote.
A tug-of-war over habitats
Demir was sent to the Council with a mandate to negotiate additional guarantees for the individual Member States' nature restoration plans, like ensuring that the states will not be sanctioned by the Commission.
The proposal was able to pass without approval from Belgium, as the text was approved by 20 Member States, representing over 65% of the European bloc's population.
The new Nature Restoration Law will work to ensure that all European habitats are restored by 2050.
From forests to farmlands to the seas and urban environments, all across 🇪🇺. 👇 Our #EUDataCrunch explains why this is important. — European Commission (@EU_Commission) June 16, 2023
Nevertheless, Frans Timmermans, the Vice-President of the EU Commission, addressed Minister Demir after the agreement was adopted, seemingly reassuring her. According to reports from De Tijd, the Commission Vice-President promised that Member States will have "maximum flexibility" for their nature restoration plans.
It is not the first time that Timmermans and Demir have locked horns. The Flemish Minister accused Timmermans of polarising the debate around nature restoration, while Timmermans has expressed being deeply disappointed by Demir's attitude towards climate regulations.
Demir has been a vocal critic of many EU green regulations, and the nature restoration law is another point of tension, as she deemed it harmful to Flemish businesses. In May, she welcomed the Belgian Prime Minister's calls for a "pause" on environmental regulation.
The nature restoration law is a regulation aiming to recover Europe's natural habitats - 80% of which are in poor status, according to EU Commission estimates. The agreement put forth by the Swedish Presidency of the Council is weaker than previous versions but nevertheless imposes legal obligations to restore 30% of damaged ecosystems by 2030.
#ENVI 🌱| The Council has reached a general approach on the nature restoration law.#EU2023SE pic.twitter.com/yIXdPRrDWA
— Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU (@sweden2023eu) June 20, 2023
According to Frans Timmermans, the debate around nature restoration, and climate regulation in general, has been needlessly polarised by party politics.
"For almost four years, this was the consensus, also with the EPP, that these are issues that are of such existential importance that we do not create a left-right political dynamic on them. I hope we go back to that situation," Timmermans commented after the Council meeting on Tuesday.
'A disgrace for Belgium'
Environmental organisation WWF dubbed the abstention as "a disgrace for Belgium", pointing out that the country was a supporter of the bill at the last meeting of EU environment ministers in December.
"In the space of six months, Belgium has gone from being a supporter of this law to a country that is abstaining," said Reine Spiessens, head of biodiversity advocacy at WWF.
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"During the many talks that will follow, we encourage Belgium to join the countries that support this law and to co-adopt together an ambitious law on nature restoration," Spiessens added.
The environmental NGO expressed particular disappointment towards Minister Demir's decision to keep opposing the law, even after, on Friday she had said that the new draft agreement was heading "in the right direction".
