The decision to reject is now being submitted to the full parliament at the July session. Supporters still expect a majority there for the proposal, which has already been weakened by the ministers.
There is also a chance that Members of the European Parliament will reach new compromises beforehand and can bring new amendment proposals to a vote. Dutch VVD member Jan Huitema earlier hinted at that possibility. Four of the twelve Renew-liberals in the environment committee voted against the proposal.
EPP opponents say they do not want to negotiate the current proposal, but want a new one and therefore want to postpone the July debate to September.
Chairman Pascal Canfin of the environment committee also takes into account new developments if the European Commission announces next week (5 July) its proposal to relax gene technologies in agriculture and horticulture. The EPP opponents are very eager for this new CRISPR-Cas technique, but Climate Commissioner Timmermans has already said that his Green Deal package is an all-or-nothing approach.
He believes that opponents cannot choose one option and then vote out the other afterwards.
Chairman Canfin of the Environment Committee criticized what he called manipulation of the votes by EPP group leader Manfred Weber. By examining attendance lists, it was found that one third of the regular EPP members in the environment committee this time were replaced by EPP members from the Agriculture Committee, mainly German CDU members, by the group leadership. According to Canfin, many of the 'replaced' EPP members support the nature restoration law, just like most EPP ministers of EU member states.
Canfin pointed out that the EPP cannot sideline supporters in the plenary session. According to him, a (German) power struggle is underway within the EPP between group leader Manfred Weber and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Weber advocates a more right-wing course with less ecology and more economy, while Von der Leyen adheres to Timmermans’s Green Deal course. Last weekend, Weber openly rebelled against that course in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine (FAZ). The EPP is holding a European summit conference at the end of this week.