sexta-feira, 26 de abril de 2024
Von der Leyen finally stands up for nature law — just as it may fall
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Von der Leyen finally stands up for nature law —
just as it may fall
After months of silence, the Commission chief made a
plea for her embattled bill in a letter obtained by POLITICO — just before
Slovakia pulled its support.
APRIL 25,
2024 7:03 PM CET
BY LOUISE
GUILLOT AND KARL MATHIESEN
BRUSSELS/BRATISLAVA
— It took her a year, but European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is
finally defending her own law to protect nature — just as the coalition behind
it is fracturing.
In a letter
sent to European Parliament members and obtained by POLITICO, the top EU
executive expresses fulsome support for her Nature Restoration Law, calling it
“the flagship proposal” of the Green Deal’s “biodiversity pillar” and “key to
delivering on the EU’s global biodiversity commitments.”
Von der
Leyen has come under huge pressure from her own European People’s Party over
the law. Parliamentarians from the conservative group have repeatedly tried to
torpedo the bill, driving a wedge between the Commission president and the
party she is now leading into the EU elections.
Through it
all, von der Leyen has remained largely silent, refusing to engage as her own
political allies pilloried the measure as bureaucratic overreach. That makes
her new letter, dated April 16, all the more notable. It comes nearly a full
year after MEPs pleaded with the EU boss in a memo to defend the measure.
Despite von
der Leyen's absence, EU countries and the Parliament reached a handshake deal
last November on the legislation, which would force the EU to rehab 20 percent
of its land and seas by 2030. Parliament later gave its formal assent, but EU
countries have since balked. Von der Leyen claimed in her letter that the
European Commission, the EU executive she oversees, is nonetheless working with
other EU institutions “to achieve formal adoption of the Regulation in the
coming months.”
That's
looking increasingly unlikely, as more countries are starting to express a
desire to revise the law before adopting it.
On
Thursday, Slovakia, which had previously appeared to be in von der Leyen’s
“yes” column on the bill, switched sides. In an interview with POLITICO,
Slovakian Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba said he could not support the law
for fear it would create more liability for governments.
“If we are
opening a Pandora's case for suing the states and the rest of the world will
not be sued by their inhabitants, by their NGOs and the others, then we have to
prepare that perhaps really the industry and everything will be destroyed in
this Continent,” said Taraba, who represents the far-right Slovak National
Party.
“And if
this would not be cleared,” he added, “then I'm ready or I'm much more eager to
vote against it.”
Taraba's
concerns echo a point Dutch politicians raised during negotiations: The new
rules could clash with infrastructure and housing developments. But officials
tweaked the legislation to quell the Dutch anxiety.
Taraba also
backed Hungary’s argument that the law gives Brussels too much power to dictate
how EU countries use their land.
“According
to Hungary — and I'm fully in accordance with the attitude — we should not
incorporate the idea that environment can be protected only when Brussels
decides about it,” he said. “It should reflect the mood and the involvement of
the local people.”
The rising
opposition caused the Council of the EU, representing EU capitals, to hold off
on a final vote on the bill, realizing it no longer had enough support.
Countries including Belgium and Finland are even going public now with calls to
revise the bill after the EU election, which is expected to swing the European
Parliament to the right.
The bill’s
defenders aren't giving up. They argue that altering the text now — after
Parliament and EU countries already reached a deal in principle — would shatter
valuable EU norms.
"We
have created a precedent that is a little bit dangerous," said Ionuț-Sorin
Banciu, Romania's secretary of state for environment and forests, whose country
is backing the bill. He warned against playing "political games" with
policies ahead of elections.
Ironically,
even though Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo wants the law changed, his
government is still scrambling to win over enough support as it holds the
Council’s rotating presidency.
Brussels’
Environment Minister Alain Maron — who called the situation "really very
problematic” — is trying to get countries to come around before Belgium's
presidency ends at the end of June.
In general,
Taraba said he did not oppose protecting natural areas, pointing to Slovakia’s
high percentage of conservation zones. It’s just the way the EU has gone about
it that bothers him.
“This is
not an issue that we are against,” he said.
