EPP accuses European Commission of 'intimidation' over Nature Restoration Law

Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher said on Monday that changes made in the European Parliament’s Nature Restoration Law text, in particular concerning the re-wetting of drained peatlands, are an improvement.

The row in Europe over the most comprehensive nature restoration proposal for three decades is threatening to spill over, after the biggest political grouping accused the European Commission of "threatening" behaviour and "intimidation".

The European People's Party, of which Fine Gael is a member, held a press conference to explain why it walked away from negotiations on the Nature Restoration Law which aims to restore at least 20% of the EU’s damaged land and sea areas by 2030, and all ecosystems by 2050.

More than 80% of protected habitats across the EU are in a bad state, according to the European Environment Agency, with a combined area about half the size of Spain in need of restoration.

The EPP, which was sharply criticised by environmental campaigners for walking out of negotiations, claimed the proposal has "good intentions but is badly designed", when it comes to farmers and food production.

MEPs Esther De Lange, Christina Schneider, and Anne Sander claimed the Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans had threatened some of their fellow MEPs to accept the nature restoration law or other political business they wished to pass in the future would be blocked.

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Ms De Lange used words like "intimidation" while Ms Schneider claimed threats were made in MEPs offices. They also claimed the Commission had been unduly influenced by green business lobbyists. 

Irish MEP Sean Kelly has broken with his fellow EPP members, with the Fine Gael MEP saying: "I don’t believe you should walk off the pitch.”

Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher softened his opposition to the proposal this week but warned there was still a way to go before he would vote in favour. 

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Mr Kelleher said on Monday that changes made in the European Parliament’s Nature Restoration Law text, in particular concerning the re-wetting of drained peatlands, are an improvement. However, he claimed they "still must go further if we are to avoid undermining Ireland’s agricultural sector". 

The proposal has led to sharp political divides between the Government parties here, with Agriculture Minister and Fianna Fáil TD Charlie McConalogue and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan hitting out at "scaremongering" and "misinformation" around the debate.

Their position is in contrast to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who said Fine Gael cannot accept a proposed nature restoration law in its current form.

Ms De Lange said that it is now "50-50" whether the nature restoration proposal can pass the committee stage, and even if it does, political insiders say it is touch and go whether it can now pass a European Parliament vote in July.

At the UN's Cop15 global biodiversity summit in Montreal last December, 196 countries and blocs agreed to restore at least 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030 as the world faces an unprecedented biodiversity emergency.