A key vote by the European Parliament’s environment committee on the EU nature restoration law has been pushed back by 12 days to 27 June after MEPs scrambled through a series of votes seeking to amend the controversial proposals.
The delay was announced as MEPs on the committee will join all other MEPs to vote in parliament-wide plenary votes scheduled to take place at noon on Thursday.
The plenary sitting of the Parliament had already been pushed back itself at short notice on Thursday to allow more time for the committee to get through the raft of changes tabled to the nature restoration law.
Showdown
Regardless of the outcome of the 27 June committee vote, the proposals will be voted on by all MEPs in a July showdown that will mark a significant step in whether the proposals make it past the drawing board.
The proposed law was published last June by the European Commission and sets out legally binding targets for member states right up to 2050 aimed at reversing biodiversity loss on habitats ranging from farmed peatlands to waterways.
Policymakers split
MEPs on the environment committee split right down the middle on Thursday morning in a vote seeking to throw out the EU nature restoration law.
The EPP group of MEPs tabled an amendment at the environment committee which sought to reject the law, but a vote on it failed to reach a majority when it resulted in 44 votes for and 44 against.
Parliament’s committees on agriculture and fisheries previously voted to throw the law out, but it is the environment committee which is taking the lead for Parliament on the law.
Green MEP for Ireland South Grace O’Sullivan, who sits on the committee, stated that the decision to postpone was a “disappointing end to a frantic morning”, but that “there is still time to pressure” the EPP and other parties into comprise ahead of the 27 June vote.
Commission must take note - IFA
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal from Strasbourg during Thursday’s voting, Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) environment chair Paul O’Brien said that the European Commission must take heed of the fact that the law is failing to garner support in the European Parliament.
“The lack of engagement with stakeholders has failed to deliver a successful outcome for all that will be affected,” O’Brien commented.
He maintains that the Commission should go back to the drawing board and take farmer concerns into account in any proposals to restore nature.
IFA environment chair Paul O’Brien is leading the EU farm assocaition group Copa's taskforce on the EU nature restoration law. / Finbarr O'Rourke
The IFA chair is heading up EU farmer group Copa’s taskforce on the nature restoration law.
Particularly controversial elements of the law raised by Ireland’s farmers and farming organisations have been proposals to rewet peatlands, the absence of clear funding streams and the potential for restoration measures to reduce the ability of farms to remain productive.
A key vote by the European Parliament’s environment committee on the EU nature restoration law has been pushed back by 12 days to 27 June after MEPs scrambled through a series of votes seeking to amend the controversial proposals.
The delay was announced as MEPs on the committee will join all other MEPs to vote in parliament-wide plenary votes scheduled to take place at noon on Thursday.
The plenary sitting of the Parliament had already been pushed back itself at short notice on Thursday to allow more time for the committee to get through the raft of changes tabled to the nature restoration law.
Showdown
Regardless of the outcome of the 27 June committee vote, the proposals will be voted on by all MEPs in a July showdown that will mark a significant step in whether the proposals make it past the drawing board.
The proposed law was published last June by the European Commission and sets out legally binding targets for member states right up to 2050 aimed at reversing biodiversity loss on habitats ranging from farmed peatlands to waterways.
Policymakers split
MEPs on the environment committee split right down the middle on Thursday morning in a vote seeking to throw out the EU nature restoration law.
The EPP group of MEPs tabled an amendment at the environment committee which sought to reject the law, but a vote on it failed to reach a majority when it resulted in 44 votes for and 44 against.
Parliament’s committees on agriculture and fisheries previously voted to throw the law out, but it is the environment committee which is taking the lead for Parliament on the law.
Green MEP for Ireland South Grace O’Sullivan, who sits on the committee, stated that the decision to postpone was a “disappointing end to a frantic morning”, but that “there is still time to pressure” the EPP and other parties into comprise ahead of the 27 June vote.
Commission must take note - IFA
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal from Strasbourg during Thursday’s voting, Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) environment chair Paul O’Brien said that the European Commission must take heed of the fact that the law is failing to garner support in the European Parliament.
“The lack of engagement with stakeholders has failed to deliver a successful outcome for all that will be affected,” O’Brien commented.
He maintains that the Commission should go back to the drawing board and take farmer concerns into account in any proposals to restore nature.
IFA environment chair Paul O’Brien is leading the EU farm assocaition group Copa's taskforce on the EU nature restoration law. / Finbarr O'Rourke
The IFA chair is heading up EU farmer group Copa’s taskforce on the nature restoration law.
Particularly controversial elements of the law raised by Ireland’s farmers and farming organisations have been proposals to rewet peatlands, the absence of clear funding streams and the potential for restoration measures to reduce the ability of farms to remain productive.
SHARING OPTIONS