European Parliament adopts draft law on ecosystem restoration

On Wednesday 12 July, the European Parliament gave the first green light to the draft law on the restoration of ecosystems, a flagship text of the European Union's Green Deal proposed by Brussels that was opposed by right-wing and far-right elected representatives.

A session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, 12 December 2022. © Frederick Florin, AFP

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The European Parliament approved on Wednesday (July 12th) a version of the text "largely watered down" compared to the initial proposals of the European Commission, according to ecologists. This position received 336 votes in favour, 300 against, with 13 abstentions.

This legislation aims to impose binding targets on States for the restoration of land and marine spaces damaged by pollution or intensive exploitation to preserve biodiversity. MEPs will now have to negotiate the content with member states.

See alsoNature restoration law: environmentalists and farmers oppose before the European Parliament

This is a failure for the conservatives of the EPP who had denounced a text harmful to agricultural production and economic activity. Because, in the European hemicycle, two camps faced each other. On the left, supporters of the bill on the restoration of nature see it as the best way to quickly achieve a rebalancing favorable to ecosystems and counter the decline of biodiversity, explains our office in Brussels, Pierre Benazet. The text provides for restoration measures for at least 20% of the EU's territory and 20% of the seas by 2030 and for all areas in need of restoration by mid-century.

For the European Commissioner for the Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, the achievement of the European Union's climate objectives depends on this draft law. The restoration of peatlands, a ban on the removal of urban green spaces and a return to open waterways are among the objectives of the text.

On the right, opponents say that nature restoration cannot be done without farmers and that the bill has been poorly crafted. It must be rejected and put back on the job – because as it stands, it undermines food security and threatens the survival of the smallest farms with overly restrictive objectives on 10% of European agricultural land.

« Good news for nature »

The rapporteur of the text, Spanish left-wing MEP César Luena, hailed a "collective victory" and "good news for nature, member states and the EU itself". "We are at the rendezvous of our future," said MEP Pascal Canfin, chair of the Environment Committee, on Twitter. "The operation of the extreme right and Manfred Weber (the president of the EPP) has failed."

We have just voted on the law on the restoration of nature. We are at the rendezvous of our future! The operation of the extreme right and Manfred Weber failed. A truly happy moment!

— Pascal Canfin (@pcanfin) July 12, 2023

However, the ambition of the text has been revised significantly downwards. Parliament's position is close to that adopted by the Member States on 20 June. "The text is totally emptied of its substance," said Anne Sander, EPP rapporteur for the text for the Agriculture Committee. "I am of course disappointed, but our commitment has not been in vain. I will continue to defend the will of people in rural areas," said German conservative MEP Peter Liese. Green MEP Caroline Roose acknowledged a "bitter victory" and deplored the "obstruction of the right" leading to the adoption of a "largely watered down" version.

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