The EU Council formally adopted the regulation on nature restoration on Monday 17 June at the Environment Council in Luxembourg.
20 Member States voted in favour, 6 against and 1, Belgium, abstained. The law was adopted by a qualified majority of 20 countries and 66% of the European population represented.
The solution came from the Austrian environment minister, Leonore Gewessler, who announced at a press conference on Sunday 16 June that she would vote in favour. The unanimous opposition of the Austrian Länder prevented her from doing so until late support from Vienna changed the situation (see EUROPE 13432/14).
“It is our duty to respond to the emergency of the collapse of biodiversity in Europe”, said the Belgian Regional Minister for the Environment, Alain Maron, who chaired the meeting.
A much-debated regulation. The ministers placed particular emphasis on the “credibility” and “functioning” of the institutions during the debates prior to the vote. Adoption of the text by the EU Council should have been a formality, until Hungary reversed its position in March 2024. Teresa Ribera Rodríguez, the Spanish minister, therefore positioned the adoption as a sign of “respect (...) between Member States and between institutions”.
In addition to “showing that the European Union takes the fight to preserve biodiversity seriously”, the adoption of this text will, according to the European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius, show “that it knows how to keep its commitments”.
Restoring biodiversity: the measures. The regulation sets the target of restoring at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.
Farmers will be asked to install hedges, ponds and fallow spaces in “high diversity” areas on their land.
Member States will put in place measures to restore drained peatlands and contribute to the planting of at least 3 billion additional trees across the EU by 2030.
Rewetting will remain optional for farmers and private owners. Another aspect that has been toned down is that “exceptional circumstances” will mean farmers can suspend the measures via an “emergency brake”.
“Contrary to the caricature that has sometimes been made of it, this legislation is not a threat to our food security. Additional flexibilities have been built into the text to protect the farming community”, explained the Chair of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee, Pascal Canfin, after the vote.
Is the Austrian vote valid? The regulation will be promulgated 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU. However, the Austrian Chancellor, Karl Nehammer, considers his minister’s vote to be “illegal”, as it goes against the dissension expressed at federal level. Will the action for annulment he intends to lodge with the European courts be upheld? The Belgian Presidency is following the votes in the Council. “The minister represents her country and her vote is legally binding. This has also been confirmed by the Council’s legal service”, says a source. In Austria, “the coalition partners have different interpretations”, according to another source. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)