Hold-up of EU Nature Restoration Law 'very bad signal' for conservation – German env min
Clean Energy Wire / Euractiv
German environment minister Steffi Lemke (Green Party) has slammed the EU member state governments' failure to consent to the bloc's Nature Restoration Law at today's (25 March) environment minister meeting. "It is a very bad signal for European nature conservation coming from this Environment Council meeting," she said ahead of the event, after the law was taken off the meeting agenda following resistance. The European Parliament and member states have already reached a compromise, "which would not overburden anyone and yet would make it possible to take the necessary steps to protect our livelihoods," Lemke said. Using a religious allegory, she added that especially conservative parties, which have mounted resistance against the law, should be interested in preserving the Creation. The minister called on all governments to pave the way for an adoption of the law still during the current legislative period.
The Nature Restoration Law, which aims to preserve 30 percent of Europe’s land and sea area for biodiversity, has been disputed for some time. Especially the weeks of major farmer protests across Europe and opposition from right-wing and conservative parties have threatened to torpedo the deal. Still, parliament and member states had reached an agreement in so-called trilogue negotiations. Such agreements traditionally stand and only need the official green light of both institutions. EU ministers met in Brussels today and were originally scheduled to give that final green light. However, Hungary’s last-minute decision to withdraw support for the proposal, and the opposition of several other EU countries, mean that the law’s future is uncertain, reported Euractiv.
Germany's approval of the law also hung in the balance last week due to last-minute opposition by government coalition party the Free Democrats (FDP). However, the environment ministry had announced a compromise for Germany to consent. The country would state for the record that the implementation of the law should not result in any additional burdens for farmers.
