As votes and negotiations on the proposed EU Nature Restoration Law continue, there has been a lot of discussion and concerns raised in Ireland over the law’s potential impacts on Irish agriculture.
While there are now three different versions of the law from all three EU institutions – European Commission, European Parliament and the Council of the EU – it is worth looking at the initial proposal and what the next steps are.
Nature Restoration Law
In June 2022, a Nature Restoration Law to increase biodiversity in areas including managed forests and agricultural land was proposed by the European Commission.
The proposal has an aim of restoring 20% of EU land and sea by 2030, and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. It also includes binding restoration targets for specific habitats and species.
In terms of agricultural ecosystems, the proposal seeks to increase:
- Grassland butterflies and farmland birds;
- The stock of organic carbon in cropland mineral soils;
- The share of agricultural land with high-diversity landscape features; and to
- Restore drained peatlands under agricultural use.
The commission’s proposal expects EU member states to submit national restoration plans to show how the country will deliver on the targets, and to monitor and report on their progress.
An impact assessment by the commission which accompanies the proposal notes that Ireland is one of the member states with the biggest area of wetlands, particularly peatlands, at 9%.
For drained peatlands under agricultural use, the commission said member states shall put in place, “without delay”, restoration measures, including rewetting, on at least:
- 30% of such areas by 2030 of which at least a quarter is rewetted;
- 50% of such areas by 2040 of which at least half is rewetted; and
- 70% of such areas by 2050 of which at least half is rewetted.
The impact assessment also notes that Ireland will be among the member states that will be “by far” most affected by the restoring and rewetting of drained peatlands under agricultural use.
The overall restoration needed across all ecosystems in Ireland has been assessed as a minimum restoration area of 5,493km2 and a maximum area of 6,297km2, which equals 7.8% and 8.9% of the total area (70,699km2).
The commission suggests to include, as part of the “target-milestones”, a “rather low” percentage of rewetting by 2030 (7.5%), however it noted that this would still mean substantial areas to be rewetted in Ireland, among other member states.
EU institutions
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, in his most recent comments on the Nature Restoration Law, said that rewetting targets could be “entirely met from state-owned land”.
The minister, who is a member of the EU’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council, said that at council level, “flexibility” which will reflect the Irish situation has been “secured”.
However, the council’s position on the proposed Nature Restoration Law appears to include less ambitious rewetting targets than both the parliament and the commission.
It is important to note that the law is currently being discussed at both of the EU institutions, and therefore positions on the proposed law could change over the next weeks.
Over the past number of days committees of the parliament voted on the law, including the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, which voted against the law.
This committee has three members from Ireland – Independent MEP Luke Mink Flanagan, Sinn Féin MEP Chris MacManus, and Fine Gael MEP Colm Markey.
MacManus and Markey voted to reject the law, while Ming Flanagan voted in favour of the law. However, the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee can only vote on its opinion.
The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety is the lead committee of the Nature Restoration Law. Green Party MEP Grace O’Sullivan and Independents 4 Change MEP Mick Wallace are members of the committee.
The environment committee is scheduled to vote on its position on Thursday, June 15. The committee’s version of the law will then be voted on by the entire parliament, including 13 MEPs from Ireland.
If the environment committee votes against the law, the proposal won’t go any further. The discussed documents, however, aren’t public knowledge because negotiations are ongoing.
The parliament as a whole will vote on the matter during the July plenary session. The council is also expected to vote on a final position in the coming weeks.
When, and if both institutions have adopted their positions on the Nature Restoration Law, trilogues with the European Commission can start to find and adopt a deal with definite actions and targets.