According to the agricultural umbrella organization, the Spanish chief negotiator CĂ©sar Luena (S&D) exceeded his negotiating mandate with the agreement.
The controversial Article 9 on agricultural ecosystems in and near nature areas was included in the agreement reached in the early hours of Thursday. That article had been removed last month by a narrow centre-right majority in the European Parliament. At the insistence of the EPP/CDA group, efforts had been made for months to keep agriculture as much as possible outside the nature proposal.
Article 9 had originally appeared in an even more extensive form in the original proposal by Environment Commissioner Virginijus SinkeviÄŤius but was later supported in a weakened form by the EU environment ministers. In fact, the original Commission proposal had been significantly watered down over the past months, but was enhanced again on Thursday night by Commissioners and ministers.
Copa-Cosega states that the involvement of the Spanish social-democratic chief negotiator Luena should lead all Members of the European Parliament to reconsider their position. This is seen as a veiled call to reject the trilogue agreement at the end of November. The EPP/CDA group responded on Friday saying they would 'still study the text of the agreement.'
However, the agreement does stipulate that the costs of nature restoration may not be paid from the budget of the Common Agricultural Policy, and that farmers may not be forced to participate in nature restoration. Also, for the first ten years, the rules will only apply within Natura 2000 sites, even if agricultural activities occur there.
To assess whether nature is restoring, three criteria will be developed from which EU countries may choose two. These are butterfly counts, landscape elements, and organic carbon.
In the amended version, a safety brake has been incorporated—on the recommendation of EPP vice-chair Esther de Lange—in case food supply might be at risk. The decision on this safety measure is not made by the EU countries themselves but by the European Commission.