The future of the regulation on nature restoration (see EUROPE 13376/14) became significantly more uncertain on Friday 22 March, when the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union failed to find a qualified majority among the 27 Member States to give the green light to the interinstitutional agreement on the subject. The item was subsequently removed from the agenda of the EU Environment Ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday 25 March, when they should have formally ratified the agreement reached with the European Parliament.
While the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council had for a time been able to count on a majority in favour of the agreement among the Member States, the situation changed when Hungary announced this week that it would no longer support the text, thus tipping the vote towards rejection.
Budapest’s position joins the abstentions already announced by Belgium, Austria, Finland and Poland, as well as the Swedish, Italian and Dutch opposition. “These countries were definitely against it”, a diplomatic source told Agence Europe.
However, this reversal has had a significant impact, since Hungary’s abstention or opposition to the text means that the percentage of the European population represented to support the text has reached a ceiling of 64.05%, whereas at least 65% is required.
No defined timetable
For the moment, no timetable has been set for the next stage. “I hope that this is another dossier that has been the subject of a lot of rumours throughout the process, but which will end up being adopted”, sighed a source to Agence Europe before the Coreper meeting.
The same source pointed out that the support of the Member States would have to be found on the basis of the existing text, as the European Parliament had already approved the agreement at its plenary session on 27 February (see EUROPE 13359/1).
“We can’t amend the text or make changes to it, it’s been voted on. If the text is rejected [by the Council], it will go back for a second reading”, said a source to Agence Europe.
On the Hungarian side, it has been indicated over the last few days that the text still needs to be examined politically. Several sources also pointed to the fact that the context had changed considerably over the last few months, with farmers’ discontent as a backdrop.
Other sources also felt that the German precedent on the end of combustion engines (see EUROPE 13150/1) – Berlin opposed the agreement even though it had already been put together by the Member States, including Germany – was also playing a role in the political game.
“I think that, since the big Member States have started to deviate a little from the rules of diplomacy, it was logical to expect other, smaller ones to do the same”, a source told Agence Europe.
A painful birth in Parliament
From the outset, the regulations on nature restoration have had a tough time of it. In addition to the division displayed by the Member States, the European Parliament has been at loggerheads over the issue for a long time.
The agreement put to the vote by MEPs was narrowly saved by the pro-European parties, while the EPP group joined with the far right, the Conservatives and part of the Renew Europe group to reject the agreement.
A similar scenario unfolded with the same actors and on the same stage in Strasbourg a few months earlier, on 12 July 2023, when Parliament adopted its position with a view to the interinstitutional negotiations. The left wing of the House and 70% of the Liberals then successively rejected the motion to reject the text (312 votes in favour, 324 against and 12 abstentions) and adopted the report by César Luena (S&D, Spanish) by 336 votes in favour (300 against and 3 abstentions). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)