It will be next spring before the final details of the EU’s proposed nature restoration law will be put into writing, the Irish Farmers Journal understands.

Negotiations in the European Parliament are now taking place over a year after the European Commission proposed a legally binding law to rewet thousands of hectares of Irish farmland.

The Commission anticipates that the proposal will not be rejected by Parliament and council, but that it will undergo some amendments.

It is hoped by the Commission that an agreement will be made between Parliament and member states before the parliament breaks next year for elections.

There has been significant political pushback has been received from a number of member states and the proposal has provoked some of the fiercest debate under the European Green Deal.

EPP Group exits negotiations

On Wednesday, the EPP Group in the parliament, which Fine Gael is a member of, announced it was pulling out of negotiations on the law.

“The proposal was bad in the first place and our concerns remain unanswered,” said chair Manfred Weber MEP and the EPP Group chief negotiator on nature restoration, Christine Schneider MEP.