EU reaches 'historic' deal on contested biodiversity law
The European Parliament and EU member states have reached an agreement on a key biodiversity bill aimed at restoring land and water habitats in the European Union.
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The law will force countries to introduce measures to restore at least 20 percent of the EU's land and 20 percent of the EU's seas by 2030 – and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050 a statement by the European Council said.
Reaching these targets means establishing measures to restore at least 60 percent of habitats in poor condition by 2040, the council added.
Data shows more than 80 percent of Europe's habitats are in poor condition.
EU lawmakers welcomed the agreement, which was reached late Thursday following hours of talks to accommodate opposition from the conservative European People's Party (EPP), the parliament's biggest grouping.
"We can be proud of this historic result setting ambitious and workable rules for all," Pascal Canfin, head of the parliament's environment committee, said on social media.
Spain's Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera Rodriguez, said she was proud of the law, which was "the first of its kind".
"It will help us rebuild healthy biodiversity levels across member states and preserve nature for the future generations, while fighting climate change," she said.
'Crucial' but insufficient step
A key plank in the bloc's Green Deal approach to mitigate climate change and boost environmental protections, the law was proposed in 2022 by the European Commission.
Environmental groups welcomed the agreement on the law, but they also pointed to watered-down elements.
Tatiana Nuno, senior marine policy officer Seas At Risk, said the agreement was far from what's needed to face the biodiversity crisis, but marked a crucial step towards restoring marine life.
Meanwhile Vera Coelho, at Oceana in Europe, said. "While substantially weakened by the council, the fisheries provisions in the law are a much overdue attempt at coherence between environmental and fisheries policy."
Strongly revised text
The EPP parliamentary grouping pointed to what it called "notable improvements" to the "strongly revised" text, including "no more requirement to renature 10 percent of farmland".
The EPP had argued, before negotiations between member states and the parliament began, that the text would reduce EU food security and limit possibilities to build wind and hydroelectric energy facilities.
Leftwing and centrist lawmakers at the time accused the EPP, which woos Europe's farmers as a key constituency, of using the bill as an election football before polls in Europe next year.
(with newswires)
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