The EU regulation on nature restoration, the subject of a fierce political battle (see EUROPE 13202/1), has been the subject of a new, revised compromise proposal from the Swedish Presidency, which should enable the EU27 environment ministers to make progress towards a political agreement on Tuesday 20 June at the Environment Council in Luxembourg (see other news in this edition).
Dated 15 May, this draft compromise, consulted by EUROPE, makes some final adjustments to accommodate the various delegations by adding further flexibility, particularly in the requirements for restoring ecosystems by habitat type (see EUROPE 13198/10).
Examined by the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) on Friday afternoon, it was judged to be fairly stable, but represents a fragile balance. It will be submitted to ministers as it stands. In the meantime, the Swedish Presidency will have reflected on changes that could still be made on Tuesday, according to a diplomatic source on Friday afternoon.
Essentially, the revised compromise clarifies the purpose of the regulation (Article 1), aims to further ensure that the deployment of renewable energies is not prevented by the requirement not to deteriorate habitats (paragraph 7 of Articles 4 and 5 as regards the requirement not to deteriorate, Article 5a as regards renewable energies). It provides for a derogation for national defence (Article 5b) and urban ecosystems (Article 6).
With regard to Article 1, the revised compromise text specifies that the Union’s objective applies to all areas and ecosystems falling within the scope of the Regulation.
In paragraph 7 of Articles 4 and 5, an additional amendment is introduced with the aim of clarifying that the non-deterioration requirement for areas where habitat types are present is effort-based and must be achieved at national level. This would require each Member State to “endeavour to put in place, where possible, the necessary measures”.
For renewable energies, Article 5a specifies that the exemption from the requirement to assess that no less damaging alternative solutions are available for the planning, construction and operation of plants for the production of energy from renewable sources, their connection to the grid and the related grid itself and storage assets, applies if they are covered by a plan that has been subject to a strategic environmental assessment. Article 11(6) has also been amended to specify the elements that Member States must coordinate, with regard to renewable energies, when drawing up national recovery plans.
With regard to national defence, a general derogation from the obligation to put in place restoration measures has been introduced, allowing Member States to exempt areas used for activities whose sole purpose is national defence, if these measures are deemed incompatible with the continued military use of the areas in question.
For urban ecosystems, the revised compromise text decreases the threshold level for the application of the no net loss to 45%, a threshold that was already a flexibility introduced by the Swedish Presidency in order to accommodate Member States with high levels of urban green spaces.
See the Swedish Presidency’s revised compromise: https://aeur.eu/f/7jz (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)