In June, Members of Parliament from the ENVI Committee failed twice to agree on the law on restoring nature. The scope of the law was even reduced over the course of discussions, with a reduction in the revision of the global objective, the deletion of the article for restoring forest ecosystems, and even a limit on restoration actions in Natura 2000 areas.
A diluted but not abandoned draft law
During the two committee votes, on 15 and 27 June, the political parties present were found to be the same. The draft law was thus narrowly saved, but we are very disappointed that it was not supported enthusiastically by the whole ENVI Committee.
On 15 June, the day of the first vote, the attack by the Parti Populaire Européen [PPE - European People’s Party] (a centre-right group) was also particularly virulent: they had replaced four members of their group, who were in favour of the draft law and who could have swung the vote, by four others who were not. The Committee eventually refused the amendment, asking for a pure and simple rejection of the law due to a draw, with 44 votes for and 44 votes against. And on 27 June, during the final vote on the law’s preliminary report, the Committee once again failed to obtain an absolute majority. The law was therefore saved, but we did not get a victory.
A violent opposition
The opposition of conservatives, who accused the project of harming food safety despite their arguments having been rejected by scientists, do not condemn the law to failure, however. The passing of the law in plenary by the European Parliament on 12 July will offer elected representatives the chance to speak out for a more coherent and ambitious law and to show their support for the European Green Deal. While temperatures continue to climb and biodiversity is demolished, taking strong measures on a European level is necessary.
Comments 4
Isaline | Wednesday 02 August 2023
Val | Monday 10 July 2023
marie-claude | Saturday 08 July 2023
trochu | Thursday 06 July 2023