Environment ministers of EU member states this week adopted their position on the controversial Nature Restoration Law, which will require the rewetting of drained peatland.
This position will become the official position of the Council of the European Union on the law. The position will be taken into negotiations between the council and the European Parliament when the latter adopts its position.
The parliament is expected to adopt a position next month, and the ensuing negotiations with the council will determine the final text of the law.
Therefore, the exact position adopted by the council this week is unlikely to be the same as the law that will eventually be passed. However, several key points contained in it are likely to form part of the final law.
Article nine of the law deals with the restoration of agricultural ecosystems, which contains a number of important differences from the original law proposal from the European Commission.
For organic soils in agricultural use constituting drained peatlands, the council’s proposal would require member states to put in place restoration and rewetting measures as follows:
- On 30% of such areas by 2030, of which at least a quarter shall be rewetted (the 2030 target is unchanged from the commission proposal);
- On 40% of such areas by 2040, of which at least half should be rewetted (as opposed to 50% by 2040 in the commission proposal);
- On 50% of such areas by 2050, of which at least half should be rewetted (as opposed to 70% by 2050 in the commission proposal).
As with the commission proposal, member states would be permitted to put in place restoration measures, including rewetting, in areas of peat extraction sites and count those towards meeting these targets.
Member states would also be permitted to implement rewetting measures on drained peatlands under other uses besides agriculture and peat extraction, and count those measures towards partially meeting the targets outlined above.
While the commission proposal said that measures on drained peatlands in other uses besides agriculture and peat extraction can contribute to only 20% of the targets, the council proposal outlines that such measures can contribute to 40% of the targets.
The council’s position also adds an important stipulation that was not included in the commission’s document.
This addition would allow member states to reduce the target for rewetting if such rewetting is likely to have significant negative impacts on infrastructure, buildings, climate adaptation, or “other public interests” and if rewetting cannot take place on other land than agricultural land.
The council proposal does not appear to outline a specific figure of reduction, stating that this reduction would be determined in the individual member state’s national restoration plans.
However, member states must include in their plans a justification for reducing the proportion of peatland to be rewetted.
The commission’s original proposal contained one particular article (16) that would have allowed members of the public access to a review procedure, before a court or some other impartial body, to challenge the substantive or procedural legality of the national restoration plan.
The article in the commission’s proposal would have recognised any non-governmental organisation promoting environmental protection as having an automatic right to take such a case.
However, the council’s position agreed this week deletes said article in its entirety.
The council also adds a new section to article 18 of the law, which states that the commission must, within 12 months from the entry into force of the regulation, submit a report to the council outlining the following:
- An overview of financial resources available at the EU level for the purpose of implementing this regulation;
- An assessment of the funding needs to implement particular articles of the law (including the article on rewetting);
- An analysis to identify any funding gaps in the implementation of the obligations set out in the law;
- Where appropriate, proposals for adequate measures, including financial measures to address the gaps identified, such as the establishment of dedicated funding.