The environment committee of the European Parliament has voted to reject the proposed Nature Restoration Law this morning (Tuesday, June 27).
No majority could be found in the committee for an amended proposal, and thus it has also rejected the European Commission’s original proposal.
The committee will now recommend to a full (plenary) sitting of the parliament that the proposed law be rejected.
EU Nature Restoration
No majority in @EP_Environment for the law as amended.
Votes
⬆️44
⬇️44
0⃣ 0
ENVI will hence table to plenary the proposal to reject the Commission’s proposal. Vote expected 11-13 July in Strasbourg.
Press release⤵️https://t.co/LkFsUsNg7K— ENVI Committee Press (@EP_Environment) June 27, 2023
This means that it isn’t the end of the line for the hugely controversial law yet, as the parliament can vote to override the committee position when it meets for a plenary session next month.
However, the defeat of the law in the environment committee – which normally backs ‘green’ and environmental legislation – will be seen by both its supporters and opponents as an enormous defeat, indicating the lack of consensus on the law.
The final vote on the proposed law was 44-44, with no abstentions (the committee has 88 members), meaning it was rejected as there was no majority in favour.
After the Agriculture Committee's rejection, followed by the Fisheries Committee's rejection, this morning the @Europarl_EN's Environment Committee decided to reject the proposed nature restoration law as amended.
This sends out a strong signal for an initiative that is poorly… https://t.co/V0e2NCdPJB pic.twitter.com/3NTDY3bAR2— COPA-COGECA (@COPACOGECA) June 27, 2023
The voting session today was a continuation of the voting session on June 15, which had to be postponed after MEPs ran out of time to vote on all amendments that had been tabled.
This decision by the committee today will be recommended to the plenary session of the parliament.
The parliament as a whole will then either agree with the committee to reject the law, or adopt a position on the law. MEPs will have further opportunity to put down amendments at the plenary session.
Irish Green Party MEP Grace O’Sullivan has already signaled her intention to do that.
🚨 No agreement reached on Nature Restoration Law in ENVI Committee with vote split 44/44. We move onto a vote in July plenary where together with progressive parties we will table our own amendments for ambitious action to #RestoreNature pic.twitter.com/X7qak61ra6— Grace O'Sullivan MEP (@GraceOSllvn) June 27, 2023
Meanwhile, Minister of State with responsibility for heritage Malcolm Noonan (who is also a member of the Green Party) said that the plenary vote next month “is what counts”.
Don't be despondent after this morning's #NatureRestorationLaw 🇪🇺 vote
🌱 Outright rejection FAILED
⚠️ Vote today was SPLIT
🤝 EU Council ADOPTED a position
🇮🇪 Irish Govt SUPPORTS nature restoration
💚 We won't give up the fight
The @Europarl_EN Plenary vote is what counts 💪🏽 pic.twitter.com/kq1TX0cRJK— Malcolm Noonan T.D. (@noonan_malcolm) June 27, 2023
If the plenary does not chose to reject the law and instead adopts a position, that position will form the basis of its negotiations on the final text of the law with the Council of the EU, which has a position of its own.
Environment ministers of EU member states last week adopted their position on the Nature Restoration Law.
This position is now the official position of the Council of the EU on the law. It is also the position supported by the Irish government.