New heavy defeat for the ideological environmentalism of Brussels. There Nature’s Restoration Act in fact, it has not overcome the obstacle of the Environment Committee of the European Parliament. The vote on the text, already amended after an initial halt, ended in a tie (44 to 44) which has the same value as a rejection.
The clear division in Europe on strategies linked to the environment, with centre-right parties gaining support, was evident when the result was read, welcomed by boos and applause. Now the Eurochamber as a whole will have to decide, probably as early as the July plenary session, whether to reject it definitively the proposal.
And the first time the Environment Committee reflects on an element of the Green Dealthe package of measures designed to achieve climate neutrality in the EU by 2050. Previously, two other competent committees, Agriculture and Fishing, however, they had already rejected the text.
Italy satisfied
“The vote of the Environment commission confirms that the reservations expressed by Italy were well founded and shared – said the Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto. -We were among the few countries, in the EU Council, to vote against the text, considering it inadequate and in many ways unworkable”.
“Defeated environmental socialist extremism. The first pillar collapses on which Carpenter had built its own package of proposals that would have brought farmers and businesses to their knees”: they commented for their part Francesca Peppucci, Fulvio Martusciello and Massimiliano Salini Members of the Environment Committee of the European Parliament.
“The vote in the environment commission with which the “nature restoration” proposal was rejected is of strategic importance – added the three representatives of Forza Italia, the European People’s Party – because brings farmers back to the center of interest in Europe and consumers who would have risked enormous damages if it were passed. Raw material prices would skyrocket and jobs would be lost. The EPP Group has once again been on their side”.
And she is also satisfied Coldiretti. “The choice of the European Parliament’s Environment Commission to reject the EU law proposal for the restoration of nature – explains the president of the association Ettore Prandini – save a Made in Italy agri-food chain that is now worth 580 billion and avoids the risk of a significant increase in imports of products harmful to the consumer and the environment from third countries”.
“Protection of the environment and loss of biodiversity – explains Prandini – is fought by not removing productive land from the availability of farmers, or prohibiting interventions on tens of thousands of kilometers of river routes, with the resulting dramatic effects, but rather favoring the development of multifunctionality, direct sales and opposing the homologation and standardization of production”
The law on the restoration of nature, presented by the European Commission in June 2022, was immediately at the center of a bitter debate in Community policy. The text points to restore the habitats and animal and plant species damaged by human activity and climate change, by setting legally binding targets, i.e. certain “natural restoration” standards. The measure, according to the promoters, would be necessary, given that 81% of natural habitats in the EU are in a problematic condition.
Il The European People’s Party, with Italy in the lead, was immediately strongly opposed,. The law, argues the popular group, would lead to disastrous economic losses for farmers and fishermen, jeopardize European supply chains, raise food prices for consumers and hinder the development of renewable energies. Together with the Ppe, they voted against the right-wing groups, European Conservatives and Reformists and Identity and Democracybut also some of the liberals of Renew Europe.