Brussels – Green light for the Nature Restoration Regulation, the rules aimed at restoring at least 20 percent of European lands and seas to their original state within the decade. A final approval that came on the razor’s edge, at the last possible moment, as desired by part of the EU Council, and with a very slim majority, not so much on the number of countries required by the qualified majority voting mechanism, but on the percentage of the EU population represented by the various ‘yes’ votes. Twenty out of 27 countries approve the regulation (compared to a minimum number of 15) for a population of 66.07 percent (minimum threshold at 65 percent).
In the vote that allows the Belgian rotating presidency of the EU Council to bring home another result, however, Italy voted against it, joining the mini-block of northeastern European countries against one of the most sensitive dossiers of the European Green Deal. Hungary, Poland, the Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden, like Italy, dropped their support for the measure. Belgium, on the other hand, chose the path of abstention. 
Decisive change of heart from Austria, until now opposed to the text, and now among the votes in favor, allowing the text to move forward. A vote that opens an all-internal crisis, with the Chancellor challenging his Energy and Climate Minister, Leonore Gewessler, announcing an appeal before the EU Court of Justice. While the Austrian People’s Party (OVPO) impeaches the minister and announces it is ready for criminal proceedings against her.
Alain Maron, Minister of Environment and Climate Transition of Belgium, flaunts satisfaction. “The European delegation will be able to go to the next Conference of the Parties on Climate (Cop29, November 11-22, 2024, ed.) with its head held high.” As the EU, he stressed, “It is our duty to respond to the urgency of Europe’s biodiversity collapse, but also to enable the EU to meet its international commitments.”
NATURE RESTORATION — THE IMMEDIATE CHANGES
Since this is a regulation, the new rules will go into effect immediately. There will be a lot to do because it stipulates that all terrestrial, lake, marine, and river habitats in poor condition must be restored to 30 percent by 2030, with binding targets rising to 60 percent by 2040 and 90 percent by 2050. Cleanup, reclamation, reforestation, if and where necessary, and securing are all activities that each member state will have to pursue without delay. The regulation prioritizes to land and sea areas: 20 percent of these are to be wrested from degradation by the end of the decade.
Member states must establish national plans to be submitted to the European Commission. The strategies will have to demonstrate how the goals will be achieved. Governments are also required to monitor and report on their progress, based on EU-wide biodiversity indicators.
The regulation sets specific requirements for different types of ecosystems, including farmland, forests, and urban ecosystems. Member states will put measures aiming to enhance two out of these three indicators: grassland butterflies’ population, stock of organic carbon in cropland mineral soils, and share of agricultural land with high-diversity landscape features. In addition, they will have to increase the population of forest birds and combat overbuilding, two other key measures of the regulation. There shall be no net loss on urban green spaces until the end of 2030.
Member states will implement measures to restore drained peatlands and help plant at least three billion additional trees by 2030 at the EU level. To turn at least 25,000 km of rivers into free-flowing rivers by 2030, member states will take measures to remove man-made barriers to the connectivity of surface waters.
The European Commission will return to the regulation in 2033, the target date to assess the impact of the new rules and appropriate corrections, if necessary. Particular attention will be given to the agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sectors.
SATISFACTION FROM POLITICS
“This law will help us better adapt to the shock of climate change by adapting our ecosystems,” stresses Pascal Canfin (RE), Chair of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee. “Contrary to the caricature that has sometimes been made of it, this law does not threaten our food security” because, he explains, “additional flexibilities have been provided in the text to protect the agricultural world.”
César Luena, Socialist MEP and chief negotiator of the European Parliament on the Nature Restoration Act, hails what he considers “a significant day for Europe” and praises the work done by the group. “The determination of the Socialists and Democrats was key to securing this legislation. We built a majority, and nature emerged victorious.”
Terry Reintke, President of the Greens in the European Parliament, was also satisfied. “The blockade has been lifted,” he commented, referring to the stalemate that emerged in the Council. “Healthy ecosystems are essential for climate, biodiversity, and agriculture. This law is critical for the EU to achieve the Paris climate goal, and it is now important that EU member states fully implement it.”
Also exulting is Monica Frassoni, former MEP for the European Greens and current Chair of the European Energy Saving Alliance. The green light in the Council is “good news,” she said while thanking Austria’s Climate Action Minister, now at the center of an all-Austrian political tussle.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
