Green credentials at stake as EU scrambles to save nature restoration law

The European Union’s green commitments are on shaky ground as countries remain split over the bloc’s flagship nature restoration law – one of the biggest environmental policies ever put forward. The divisions underscore the profound impact that protests by farmers have had on EU politics. 

The EU's nature reforation law would require crop rotation, meadows, buffer strips near rivers, and the protection of wetlands and peatlands. © AFP / ROUF BHAT

Aimed at reversing decades of damage to the EU’s land and water habitats, the law is a crucial pillar of the EU’s ambitious climate agenda.  

It obliges countries to restore nature on a fifth of land and sea ecosystems by 2030. This rises to 60 percent by 2040 and at least 90 percent by 2050.  

The law, which took two years to engineer, was approved by the EU parliament in February – despite a last-minute revolt by the centre-right European People's Party.  

It was on its way to being rubber-stamped during a final vote by environmental ministers – usually a formality – on Monday when Hungary suddenly withdrew its support. 

This meant the policy no longer had the requisite backing of at least 55 percent of EU countries that represent 65 percent of the population – so the vote on it was indefinitely postponed. 

Hungary joins Finland, Poland, Belgium and Austria as countries who say they’ll abstain, while Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands continue to staunchly oppose the policy. 

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Reputation at stake

Now, it appears, everything is back on the table – despite the many months of hoop-jumping, text rewrites, backroom negotiations, compromises, and kowtowing to farmers worried about the impacts on industry.  

Abandoning policy at such a late stage in the EU lawmaking process is highly unusual. Environment commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius warned that shelving the law will put the bloc’s international reputation on the line. 

“I cannot avoid expressing my deep regret. The current stalemate raises serious questions about the coherence and stability of EU decision-making,” Sinkevicius told ministers following the unexpected about-face by Budapest. 

Having positioned itself as a global leader on climate policy – and pushing other countries to back stronger targets to protect nature – the EU, he said, risked going “empty-handed” to the next Cop16 biodiversity summit in November. 

"We are fooling ourselves if we pretend that we can win our fight against climate change without nature," Sinkevicius added. 

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Failing habitats

Data shows more than 80 percent of Europe's habitats are in poor condition. Scientists say that reversing this damage will help ensure food security, protect against extreme weather events and reduce emissions.  

Ministers from member states who support the nature restoration law – also intended to help Europe achieve its aim of becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 – have been outspoken over its scuppering. 

“How could we say we’ve decided not to restore nature?” Irish Environment Minister Eamon Ryan said. “Not to deliver on the protection of biodiversity is a shocking statement to the rest of the world.” 

Spanish Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera said it was worrying to see that obstructionism was becoming “customary” in the EU Council. 

Meanwhile Greenpeace said that governments "torpedoing the first tiny steps towards restoring European nature" was disgraceful.

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Farmer protests

The nature law is one of several environmental policies in EU nations to come under fire as governments seek to quell months of angry protests by farmers who say overly strict rules are bankrupting them at a time when food security is being compromised by the Ukraine war. 

"The agricultural sector is a very important sector, not only in Hungary, but everywhere in Europe," Hungarian environment minister Aniko Raisz said. 

The deadlock over the law’s future comes as the EU gears up for parliamentary elections in June – polls that are widely expected to see a shift to the right as conservative parties appeal to rural voters who object to excessive red tape from Brussels. 

It’s now up to Belgium, holder of the rotating EU Council presidency, to engineer a consensus among member states.  

Belgium itself has said it will abstain from the vote.