European People’s Party MEPs will vote against the EU’s Nature Restoration Law in the European Parliament’s environment committee Tuesday, EPP chief Manfred Weber confirmed to POLITICO.
Speaking to Brussels Playbook, Weber argued that the law risks higher food prices and threatens farmers’ livelihoods and global food supplies in times of war. “To push through a law now, which will lead to lower [food] production, also according to the Commission, is not the right time … The EPP will vote against the bill … we need a new proposal to address the concerns,” he said.
The law sets a target for vegetation that supports biodiversity to cover 10 percent of the EU’s farming territory by 2030 — which would force the reconversion of some arable land into forests, orchards or ditches.
While EU countries voted in favor of the law, the majority was thin, with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo saying he wants to “hit the pause button” on the legislation. Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar argued some of the targets “go too far.” Similar concerns were echoed by the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Romania and Poland, among others.
But the renewables industry, scientists and the U.N. Environment Program, among others, accuse the EPP of peddling misinformation and false claims about the law. Supporters argue restoring land does not mean that economic activity cannot take place there — those areas could house fruit-producing orchards, for example. On coasts, offshore wind projects can create artificial reefs. Even some industry lobbies such as WindEurope back the law.
Weber’s EPP has indicated it has the backing of other right-wing parties and parts of the liberal Renew Europe group in the Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) vote. The EPP is betting that if it manages to topple the law on Tuesday in ENVI, that would kill it entirely, given two other committees have already voted against it.
Weber also suggested he wants to harness the momentum to slam the brakes on all new green laws, and “rebalance” EU policy to focus on industry, arguing Europe may already have gone too far and will start feeling the economic consequences of being “more ambitious” on its green legislation than the rest of the world.
EPP heads of state and government will meet on Thursday to prepare for this week’s European Council summit, discuss the moratorium, “and demand that we now put competitiveness in the center in the next few months, especially for the next legislative period,” Weber said.
MEPs in the environment committee will start voting on the law around 10:30 a.m.
