Manfred Weber’s restoration revolution will be
televised
BY JAKOB
HANKE VELA
JUNE 27,
2023 7:15 AM CET
Brussels
Playbook
By JAKOB
HANKE VELA
with ZOYA
SHEFTALOVICH
GOOD
MORNING: This is Jakob Hanke Vela bringing you Tuesday’s Playbook.
DRIVING THE
DAY: NATURE RESTORATION LAW Share on
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EPP LEADER
TAKES A HAMMER TO NATURE LAW: Chair of the European People’s Party Manfred
Weber will test the limits of the EU’s green ambitions today when MEPs vote on
a key law that aims to restore degraded lands and protect biodiversity.
Food
supply: In an interview with Playbook, Weber vowed his party will today vote down
the legislation prepared by Commissioner Frans Timmermans, the EU’s climate
chief, arguing it risks higher food prices and threatens farmers’ livelihoods
and global food supplies in times of war.
Arable
reconversion: 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. “This
bill is not going to work,” Weber said, arguing the law would reduce food
production and could hinder new green infrastructure projects.
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Set-aside:
“What really doesn’t add up for me is that the Commission has also suspended
the existing possibilities of land set-aside … because of the war, because we
need food. And in such a situation, to bring a proposal that would reduce food
production up to 10 percent, that’s just not logical,” Weber said, referring to
the impact of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Not buying
it: The renewables industry, scientists and the U.N. Environment Program, among
others, who accuse the EPP’s anti-Nature Restoration Law campaign of peddling
misinformation and false claims. Supporters of the law 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. Indeed, even some industry lobbies such
as WindEurope back the law.
How else
should the EU meet its global biodiversity commitments? Weber insisted he wants
the EU to meet biodiversity targets and a global pledge to restore 30 percent
of degraded land, but argued “this law is simply a bad law, that is simply not
based on what we have committed to internationally.”
Not the
right time: “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.”
Moment of
truth: Weber’s EPP has the backing of other right-wing parties and parts of the
liberal Renew Europe group. The EPP is betting that if it manages to topple the
law today in the European Parliament’s environment committee, it will kill it
entirely, given two other committees already voted against it.
Farmers vs.
environmentalists: Protests and the rise of a new farmers’ party have shaken
the Netherlands and Belgium, which are now opposing the EU’s nature law.
Listen,
don’t lecture: “It’s also important to me that we listen to people. We have had
so much concern out there. The agriculture sector is fundamental,” Weber said.
“We can’t do the Green Deal … against the people, we can only do it with the
people, if there is so much concern there now, then the European level has to
listen and not lecture.”
Background:
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 … particularly if it comes to taking agricultural land out
of use for food production.” Similar concerns were echoed by the Netherlands,
Denmark, Austria, Romania and Poland, among others. Catch up on all the
background drama here, and more on why this law is so controversial here.
New
proposal? “Our demand is that the Commission should make a new proposal for
this important dossier, to respond to the demands and concerns in Parliament,
EU countries and from people,” Weber said. “In other words: Commission, please
withdraw this proposal so that we can finally come out of this blockade.”
But there’s
no time: The Commission’s Timmermans said last month he is open to discussing
“every single line” of the legislation with lawmakers, but that Brussels “will
not come with another proposal. Let that be crystal clear. Time simply isn’t
there.”
Enough of
the Green Deal: Weber 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.
Rebalancing:
“In the last few years, we have initiated an enormous amount of legislation,
with the support of the EPP and with a proposal from [Commission President]
Ursula von der Leyen,” Weber said. “If you talk to industry, it is extremely
demanding, to put it mildly, what we have decided. And that needs to be
rebalanced … [The EPP] proposed a moratorium as at the beginning of the year;
today De Croo also sees it that way, also Macron.”
Green
pause: Weber said the EPP heads of state and government will meet on Thursday
to prepare for the 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.”
Does that
mean Brussels has gone too far? “If you ask me if we have gone too far, then I
would say we stand by the laws. But we will also be careful in the next few
years how we calibrate the impact of these laws,” Weber said.
New task
for VDL: Asked whether he was in conflict with von der Leyen on her flagship
policies, Weber argued the EPP and the Commission president had launched the
Green Deal together, but would also need to implement it — carefully —
together. “Ursula initiated the Green Deal together with us at the beginning of
the legislative session. Dozens of Green Deal laws have already been voted with
the approval of the EPP. I would like us to make it clear in the next election
campaign, together with Ursula von der Leyen, that we are the party that will
implement it.”
The
restoration revolution will be televised: MEPs in the environment committee
will start voting around 10:30 a.m. Lead MEP César Luena will hold a press
conference at 1 p.m., followed by an EPP presser at 1:30 p.m.
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