Tensions within the European Parliament have been rising for weeks, with fractious negotiations over the bloc’s proposed nature restoration law reaching breaking point in recent days.
Party co-ordinators in the Parliament’s cross-party environment committee (ENVI) late on Wednesday reached a package deal to try to reshape the European Commission’s proposal aiming to restore at least 20% of the EU’s degraded land and sea areas by 2030, as well as all areas in need of restoration by 2050.
The text will be brought to the vote in ENVI on June 15, though the wording does not have the support of the biggest political group, the centre-right EPP, whose representatives walked out of discussions on Wednesday.
“Despite this boycott, the negotiators from the other groups continued to reach a compromise and have landed on a common text,” said the remaining co-ordinators Cesar Luena (S&D), Jutta Paulus (Greens), Soraya Rodriguez Ramos (Renew Europe), and Mick Wallace (Left) in a joint statement.
If the co-ordinators of these left and centre-left groups are able to get the full support of their ENVI party colleagues the deal will likely have just enough votes to narrowly pass in the 70+ strong committee without further groups’ support.
“We regret that EPP has chosen to exclude their voice from the democratic process and formally abandon negotiations, rather than try to address their concerns within the negotiation process,” the co-ordinators added.
The group have struck a deal that would keep the bill’s headline 2030 restoration target at 20% but have a higher 30% goal for “very degraded areas” while having no sub-targets for specific ecosystems, parliamentary sources told Carbon Pulse.
They also want to tasking the Commission, two years after the law comes into force, to assess any funding gasps and to identify solutions that could include the creation of a dedicated nature restoration fund within EU budget ceilings.
However, even if this package passes in ENVI, the slightly raised ambition is likely to face a tougher time getting approved by the full 705-strong Parliament in a plenary vote, given that weaker versions have been rejected outright by other committees in their opinions to ENVI.
Opinions were rejected last week in the Parliament’s committees for fisheries (PECH) and rural policies (AGRI), while the regional development committee (REGI) opted not to vote to give its opinion on the issue.
Jutta Paulus of the Greens admitted to Carbon Pulse that several political groups were still divided on the proposal.
“We don’t have the homogeneity of S&D and Renew Europe, which makes it tricky for plenary, no doubt about that,” she said.
For its part, the EPP stated that “the proposal was bad in the first place” due to the strain it will place upon the bloc’s food security.
“Some proposals, such as the prohibition of deterioration, have already failed rural communities in Europe’s Natura 2000 legislation,” said the EPP’s co-ordinator in ENVI, Christine Schneider.
The group is now calling on the Commission to add “a comprehensive impact assessment on food security, reduced farmland and the renewable energy roll-out” and Schneider added “this is not negotiable”.
Following the ENVI vote, a ballot of the full 705-strong Parliament is expected to take place in the July plenary session.
In a parallel scrutiny process, the Swedish Presidency of the Council of member states will try to reach a general approach on the file at the Environment Council on June 20. The Council, Parliament, and Commission ultimately need to agree on text for the bill to pass into law.
By Emanuela Barbiroglio – emanuela@carbon-pulse.com
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