In the EU, agricultural organizations and Christian Democrats have campaigned for several months against environmental and climate proposals. Especially the Green Deal laws initiated by former Commissioner Frans Timmermans have come under attack. While EPP group leader Manfred Weber did receive support from several dozen politicians from conservative, far-right, and nationalist factions, about one third of his own EPP group voted against his confrontational approach.
There are also concerns within EPP circles about Weber’s strategy to cooperate with the far-right in order to prevent those groups from gaining many votes in the European elections. Recent opinion polls point to this trend, especially in Germany, Spain, and France. The previous electoral gains of BBB and PVV in the Netherlands are frequently mentioned in informal discussions in Brussels and Strasbourg.
The text of the Nature Restoration Law that was just adopted closely resembles the text previously agreed on by the EU countries, including a number of commitments to also bring conservative politicians on board. The law will require EU countries—not only to protect nature but also to restore natural areas.
To this end, member states must set ten-year goals that they report on annually to Brussels, roughly comparable to the consultation process of the so-called national strategic plans in agricultural policy.
Dutch MEP Bas Eickhout (GroenLinks) said that ‘the most important thing is that this law has finally crossed the finish line. Naturally, we wanted a much more concrete law, but the margins were extraordinarily narrow. What we now have is primarily an obligation to get to work. This also applies to the Netherlands: a new cabinet cannot avoid it—the nature must be restored.’
CDA MEP Annie Schreijer-Pierik was one of the advocates (together with SGP member Bert-Jan Ruissen) of the rejected proposal to repeal: “As an MEP, I warned against this from the very beginning. The consequences for the Netherlands are incalculable because we are fixated on a paper reality and have lost sight of the real one. Adding yet another new law on top of that will only worsen the situation.”
“A victory for our vulnerable nature,” said Anja Hazekamp (Party for the Animals) in response to the vote. “The narrow majority shows that every green vote is of global importance to defend animals, nature, and the environment. That is desperately needed at a time when commercial interests and conservative forces increasingly dominate European politics.” Mohamed Chahim (PvdA) also reacted optimistically to the failed blockade.
Anja Haga (Christian Union) also voted in favor of the law. The European People’s Party (EPP), which her group is part of, voted against it. ‘Many politicians have become afraid because of the farmers’ protests and do not dare to make choices. That does not help the farmers, on the contrary. Agriculture deserves forward-looking decisions that farmers can rely on. Fortunately, the majority of the European Parliament eventually saw this as well.’
Just earlier this week, the CDA announced that the European People’s Party (EPP) will advocate for revising Natura 2000 areas. According to the CDA, this will be part of the EPP electoral manifesto for the European elections on June 6. With this, EPP/CDA is pushing for a significant shift in European nature policy.
According to CDA MEP Tom Berendsen, ‘it is in the interest of the Netherlands that we have gotten our European colleagues behind this plan. At the moment, our country is locked in because years ago we agreed to protect certain plants and animals in specific areas. With the knowledge we have now, one can question whether that is still feasible everywhere.’