In a historic meeting, with 336 votes in favor, 300 against and 13 abstentions, the European Parliament approved today, Wednesday, the position on the legislation under preparation for the restoration of Nature. Under the proposal that will see the EP approach the European Council and the European Commission on the final deal, the EU must have restoration measures in place by 2030 covering at least 20% of its land and sea areas , as over 80% of European soils are in poor condition.

It is noted that after intense processes, earlier in the Plenary, a majority was not gathered for the overall rejection of the European Commission’s proposal (312 votes in favor, 324 against and 12 abstentions), as the initial proposal of the EP environment committee was rejected, after a “thriller” vote that resulted in a tie.

MEPs who voted in favor highlight that restoring ecosystems is key to combating climate change and biodiversity loss and reducing risks to food security. They also point out that the bill does not provide for the creation of new protected areas in the EU, nor does it prevent new renewable energy infrastructure, while the amended proposal supported by the Parliament explicitly emphasizes that such facilities serve the public interest extremely well.

In addition, as it became known with the approval of the first nature restoration regulation in the history of the EU, within 12 months of the entry into force of the regulation, the European Commission will have to assess the existence of funding gaps between the restoration objectives and the available of European funding, still considering possible solutions, especially through a targeted EU funding mechanism.

Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans expressed his satisfaction to journalists, saying that a first step was taken in order to start a constructive negotiation, as he characteristically stated: “We have to think about the next day and not about our next election”.

“Today we sent a clear political message from the European Parliament that will provide a great opportunity for the planet and an opportunity to strengthen our fight against climate change.” This was stated in a press conference by the president of the group of Eurosocialists Irace Garcia, harshly criticizing those who voted against the proposed law.

Mr. Manfred Weber, head of the EPP’s KO in the European Parliament and president of the EPP, characterized the result of the vote as an “empty victory”, who voted against the proposal, expressing significant reservations in relation to the amendments, such as he stressed, the funding, or the new production methods are not clarified. “We will succeed with the Green Deal if we stand together,” Mr Weber stressed, emphasizing the implementation of the Green Deal while boosting growth, economic growth and job creation.

In his article earlier, analyzing the reasons why the European Commission’s proposal for a directive on the restoration of nature had to be voted against, he characteristically stated: “The aim of the law is to restore nature to its 1950 state. It challenges local and regional authorities to are doing the impossible: in about 25 years, to reverse 70 years of changes in nature”, adding that: “These goals go far beyond the international commitments we have made and achieve their goal, reducing productive land, forest or marine areas without to take into account the social and economic consequences”.

Following the vote at a press conference, EP rapporteur César Luena (Socialists, Spain) said: “The nature restoration legislation is an integral part of the European Green Deal and follows scientific consensus and restoration recommendations of Europe’s ecosystems”.

In the press conference he spoke of a “great social victory with great benefits for democracy. A great victory for the European Parliament”. “We must be courageous and ambitious in order to pass this bill by the end of the year,” he stressed and added that: “We will play a very important role in the trilogue with the European Council and the European Commission.”

Responding to a question from APE-MPE, Mr. Luena clarified that the scenarios that speak “of a reduction in productive land are a big lie, it is never going to happen. We will never allow it to happen, it is not in our plans, it is irresponsible, and whoever brings it, we will stop it.” “It is a law in favor of nature and not against anyone,” he clarified.

Nature restoration goals for 2030

The Parliament stresses that the new law should contribute to the achievement of the EU’s international commitments, in particular the United Nations’ Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. MEPs support the Commission’s proposal to put in place restoration measures by 2030 covering at least 20% of all land and sea areas in the EU.

The EP’s position is that the legislation should only be implemented after the Commission presents data on the necessary conditions to ensure long-term food security and when EU countries quantify the area that needs to be restored to meet the targets for each type of ecosystem. Parliament also wants the possibility to suspend targets when exceptional socio-economic impacts are expected.

It is recalled that on 22 June 2022 the European Commission proposed a regulation on nature restoration, which is expected to contribute to the long-term restoration of damaged nature in all EU land and sea areas and to the achievement of the EU’s climate and biodiversity. According to the European Commission, the new legislation will bring significant economic benefits, as every euro invested for nature will yield at least 8 euros.