Last bid for EU nature restoration law: 11 member countries call for approval at next Environment Council

Brussels – In a joint letter sent to all environment ministers of the 27 EU countries, 11 member states—Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, Slovenia, and Cyprus—called for a final green light for the European Nature Restoration Act at the next meeting of the EU Environment Council on June 17.

The regulation setting the ambitious goal of restoring at least 20 per cent of Europe’s lands and seas to their original state within the decade is one of the cornerstones of the Green Deal and has also become one of its thorns in the flesh. After the provisional agreement between the EU Parliament and the EU Council in November, the green light from the permanent representatives of the member countries and the formal approval of the final text by the Parliament on February 26, all that is missing is the formal approval by the ministers of the 27 countries. But so far, the Belgian presidency of the EU Council has failed to put together the qualified majority of 15 member states (representing at least 65 per cent of the European population) necessary for the final green light for the law.

“The continued absence of a qualified majority for the carefully negotiated interim agreement on the Nature Restoration Act is very worrying. Such a backward step on previously agreed compromises, the result of long months of negotiations, puts our democratic institutions at risk and calls into question the EU’s decision-making process,” the 11 denounce in the letter. The last attempt, last March 25, certified that there was no margin for approval, with Sweden, Italy, and the Netherlands continuing to strenuously oppose the law, while Finland, Poland, Belgium, Austria and Hungary chose to abstain.

The 11 countries pushing for approval stress that the Council must act “as a reliable and trustworthy co-legislator, in a spirit of sincere cooperation between the European institutions.” Too often in these last months of the legislative term, the 27 countries have tried to scuttle agreements already negotiated with the Parliament: this happened with the directive on digital workers’ rights and the one on corporate due diligence.

The agreement on the Wildlife Restoration Act, moreover, is already the result of compromises with national governments, an agreement that included some of the flexibilities that member states have been asking for and a phased approach to meeting targets. For example, given the concerns of both co-legislators about the effects of the food safety regulation, the final agreement provided for an “emergency brake” by setting 2033 as the date for the Commission to review and assess the implementation of the regulation and its impact on the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors, as well as its broader socioeconomic effects. Moreover, it introduced the possibility of suspending the implementation of the regulation’s provisions related to agricultural ecosystems for up to one year through an implementing act in case of “unforeseeable and exceptional events beyond the control of the EU and with serious Community-wide consequences for food security.”

The failure of this ambitious regulation would be a blow to the Union’s credibility in forums on combating climate change. “We will be forced to go to the UN Conference on Biodiversity to be held in Cali, Colombia, in October this year and say that we are reneging on international promises to protect our lands and seas,” the 11 EU countries note in the letter. Europe has not only “made a commitment to be a global leader in nature restoration” but is also “the continent that is warming fastest and facing unprecedented impacts from the intertwining of nature and climate crises.” That is why, the letter continues, “ecosystem restoration is essential to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change and to safeguard European food security.”