The president of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) Sean McNamara has said that he is “very disappointed” with the passing of the Nature Restoration Law in the European Parliament.
The vote, which took place yesterday (Tuesday, February 27), saw 329 MEPs vote in favour of the controversial law, 275 were against and 24 abstained.
11 Irish MEPs voted in favour and two, Independent Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan and Sinn Féin’s Chris MacManus, voted against.
The law, first proposed by the EU Commission in 2022, will now be brought before the EU Council which will formally decide whether to adopt the law.
It is understood that the council will make that decision towards the end of March.
Nature Restoration Law
Sean McNamara said the outcome of the vote has “created a lot of concern among farmers” who see the law “as heavy on compulsory actions and targets, but light on funding commitments”.
“The Nature Restoration Law has been an example of how not to do policy where a lot of goodwill from farmers has been thrown away in the interests of political legacy and top-down control.
“Unfortunately, farmers have bitter experiences of how promised funding in the case of designated lands, has failed to materialise over many years.
“Instead, farmers with land designated as NHA (National Heritage Area) or SAC (Special Area of Conservation) have encountered years of frustration and seen their farm enterprises severely curtailed, and land devalued,” he said.
The ICSA president noted that there had been “a significant scaling back” in relation to rewetting following opposition.
“While the government maintains that this will allow the targets to be met using state lands, this is, in our view, still uncertain.
“The initial target is for 30% restoration of reclaimed peatlands – of which one-third must be rewetted.
“However, that target reaches 50% by 2050, and it is far from clear that this will be achieved without some use of farmland.
“A clause does allow some deviation from this target for member states that are severely impacted -like Ireland – but this may be contingent on a future government agreeing to seek the necessary flexibilities,” McNamara said.
The ICSA president voiced concerns about the targets for restoring habitats and the implications for the viability of land.
The new law seeks to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030 and all ecosystems by 2050, putting forward measures to restore urban, forest, agricultural and marine ecosystems.
“This has its roots on a figure plucked out of the fresh air under the EU Biodiversity Strategy which ignores the financial and productivity impacts,” he said.
“Overall, this vote drags farmers into an uncertain future and it is clear that food security and Ireland’s vital interests have taken second place to the Green Deal agenda of the EU Commission.
“I have to say I am amazed that only two Irish MEPs voted against this,” McNamara added.
Farmers
European farm organisation Copa Cogeca, which is in favour of nature restoration “as a whole”, said it “greatly regrets the lack of support for the amendment of the Nature Restoration Law”.
The group said the way in which the law has been constructed has been “flawed from the start”.
“Currently it is unacceptable, and we will continue to make sure that it is clear that its implementation will cause serious issues for the farming and forestry communities of Europe.
“Chief amongst the issues facing nature restoration is how this law will be financed and how land managers and landowners will be supported to actively make long-term changes happen with short-term monies,” Copa Cogeca said.
Political reaction
The leader of the newly formed Independent Ireland Party, Michael Collins has hit out at the Irish MEPs who voted in favour of the Nature Restoration Law.
“This clearly demonstrates that when it comes to taking the concerns of our farmers seriously the vast majority of Ireland’s MEPs are all mouth, who are terrified to take a stance that might put them in opposition to the suffocating ideological pressure that the EU seems only too happy to exert.
“The trajectory of EU policy is now clear. Farmers and the viability of agriculture more widely are fair game when it comes to the prioritisation of a biodiversity and restoration policy that is going to wreak havoc when implemented,” the Cork South-West TD said.
Meanwhile, independent Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae also criticised the 11 Irish MEPs for “not standing with the agricultural community”.
“It is amazing to see Fine Gael representatives picking and choosing when to vote with their party whip.
“Their grouping the European Peoples Party (EPP) the parliament’s largest grouping and the one which Fine Gael is a member of called for a no vote.
“But Deirdre Clune, Frances Fitzgerald, Seán Kelly, Colm Markey, and Maria Walsh and chose to jump ship,” he said.
Deputy Healy-Rae believes the new law will “lead to more forms of bureaucracy, red tape and reporting obligations for farmers”.
“Once again it is death to the industry by a thousand cuts. We have to stand with farmers and take their view in particular on board,” he said.