On Wednesday 22 March, the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee was divided over the scope of the proposed regulation on nature restoration.
More than 1,200 amendments were tabled by committee members to the draft opinion by Anne Sander (EPP, French) on the nature restoration dossier (see EUROPE 13145/12).
The Agriculture Committee plans to vote on its opinion on 23 May, while the lead committee (Environment) is expected to vote in June (see EUROPE 13098/3), with a view to a plenary vote in July. The EPP, Renew Europe, ECR and ID groups are negotiating compromises, which are contested by the other groups (S&D, Greens/EFA).
Reduce the scope of application. The rapporteur, Ms Sander, highlighted that some MEPs from the EPP and Renew Europe groups had tabled amendments to “reject the European Commission’s proposal”.
She emphasised the difficulties of building compromises, as positions are sometimes so far apart. “We need to find a balance between nature restoration and agricultural and forestry issues”, she said. Many amendments have been tabled to reduce the scope of the text and the zoning. “We agreed to narrow the scope and focus on Natura 2000 areas” (rather than the whole territory), explained Ms Sander. In addition, “a majority of colleagues” are calling for more consideration to be given to food safety.
MEPs are also concerned about how to finance the transition that farmers are being asked to make, given that there is not enough money in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Maria Noichl (S&D, German) deplored the negotiated compromises to focus only on Natura 2000 areas, and Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg (Greens/EFA, German) criticised the willingness of some members to “carry on with business as usual” while nature is in danger. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)