Supporters rally for Nature Restoration Law, but no sign of movement in Council

National governments, NGOs, and scientists are pushing for the Council of the EU to give final approval to the Nature Restoration Law, but a blocking minority in the Council remains opposed to the law.

Yesterday (Tuesday 14 May) environment ministers from 11 national governments wrote to their counterparts across the EU, urging them to adopt the law at the next Environmental Council meeting on 17 June.

The letter organised by the Irish government, was signed by large countries including France, Germany, and Spain. However, the 11 signing countries fell short of the majority required to approve the proposed law.

The proposed text preserves 30% of Europe’s land and sea for biodiversity, with extra targets for the restoration of habitats in poor condition.

The Council agreed on a compromise position with the European Parliament in November 2023, which was then approved by the Parliament in February 2024. However just before the law was due to be signed, Hungary switched from supporter to opponent, depriving the text of the necessary support in the Council. Poland and Slovakia subsequently also dropped their support.

As recently as last month, 17 countries were counted as public supporters of the text. Some of these countries, like Portugal and Greece, did not sign yesterday’s letter. Two of those countries who responded to a query from Euractiv indicated off the record, they continued supporting the law.

No clear path forward

However, three of the main opponents of the text confirmed to Euractiv that their position has not changed, including Finland and Hungary. The Netherlands and Austria are also likely to continue to withhold support for the text, as their positions are dictated by the position of the Dutch parliament and Austrian regions respectively.

This leaves no clear way forward for the file. Opponents are not seeking specific changes to the text, and several supporting countries have voiced anger that fresh opposition to the file only arose after a previous compromise was agreed upon within the Council.

If the file were to be opened up for renegotiation, it would need to go through the legislative process again. Support from the next Parliament, expected to shift to the right after the elections, is far from guaranteed.

The Belgian Presidency of the Council did not respond, when asked by Euractiv whether the file would be discussed at the 17 June meeting of the Environmental Council.

Wider support

On Monday 13 May 140 environmental NGOs, including WWF, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, wrote an open letter decrying the rollback of European green measures. The letter cited the national government’s blocking the Nature Restoration Law and called for a change in direction.

On the same day over 200 Polish scientists wrote to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, urging his government to support the law in Council.  Polish support for the text would allow it to pass into law.

Tusk has publicly acknowledged that nature protection was necessary and in the long-term interests of farmers. But he opposes the law on grounds that Poland can protect its environment “without European coercion,” and indicated that European funding would be needed for protection measures.

[Edited by Rajnish Singh]

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