The president of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has said he is “shocked and appalled” by the European Commission’s “interference” in the decision making of MEPs regarding the Nature Restoration Law.
Dermot Kelleher said it is “unacceptable” that directly elected MEPs would be subjected to “interference and intimidation”.
Kelleher’s comments come after the commission has been accused by the European People’s Party (EPP) of “completely overstepping its role”, as the group claimed, trying to influence how MEPs should vote.
EPP vice-chairperson in charge of environment, Esther de Lange, and its chief negotiator on nature restoration, Christine Schneider, claimed that the commission was providing resources for businesses to contact MEPs to lobby for a yes vote to the law.
Nature Restoration Law
The group representatives further claimed that the commission vice-president with responsibility for the EU Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, has held meetings with some EPP MEPs and told them that, if the party did not back the law, other legislative proposals the EPP deem important may not be forthcoming from the commission.
Speaking on the accusations against the commission, the ICSA president said: “The conduct of the commission and its executive vice-president Frans Timmermans is totally unacceptable.
“A red line has been crossed and they must be held accountable. There is a real question mark about whether the position of vice-president Timmermans is now tenable.”
The EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius will have to account for the actions of the Directorate-General for Environment (DG EN) officials, he added.
EEP representative Schneider also claimed that the commission’s Business and Biodiversity Platform was being used to organise the lobbying of MEPs by businesses.
Kelleher said it is up to the commission to persuade MEPs and the EU Council regarding legislation using the proper negotiating channels, and to respect the right of the other institutions to propose amendments or to disagree.
“Farmers are guardians of the countryside and its biodiversity. This is where they live and work and many would be willing to do more if only Brussels would engage in a constructive fashion and listen to their concerns.
“Instead, they are aghast at a draconian approach, encompassed in the Nature Restoration proposals which ultimately will put some farmers out of business,” Kelleher said.
European Commission
The ICSA president stressed that the European Commission is just one of the three institutional partners (together with the European Parliament and the Council of the EU) in the EU law making process.
Under EU Law, the only legislative role of the commission is to propose legislation, following which the council and the parliament separately adopt their own positions before negotiating with each other on the final legislative text to be adopted across the EU.
While the commission has a role in mediating negotiations between the council and parliament, it does not itself have an official role in determining the final legislative text after it makes a proposal.
The making of EU laws is a matter for a three-way process between the institutions, which must be respected by members of the EU institutions at all costs, the ICSA president said.
Commenting that many citizens are “concerned at the perceived democratic deficit” in the EU, Kelleher said: However, solving this is not as simple as giving more powers to the parliament or some other electoral process.
“But it is clear that citizens’ concerns will not be assuaged by the [European] Commission interfering with the existing arrangements.”
The ICSA believes Timmermans is “out of control” and wields too much power for one individual at a time when, Kelleher said, there is “increasing unease” that Brussels is getting “completely detached” from the views of the citizens it is meant to serve.
“I strongly feel that Timmermans’ position is now untenable,” the ICSA president said.