In the corridors of the Parliament of Strasbourg, where the MEPs are gathered in plenary session, this week, a subject dominated all the conversations: what fate would be reserved for nature restoration law ? Behind the scenes, two camps are fighting to win the battle over this text proposed in June 2022 by the Commission, which aims to write in community marble the Montreal agreement on biodiversity and its objectives, such as that of restoring 30 % of land and sea surfaces degraded by 2030.
On the one hand, Manfred Weber, the chairman of the conservative group of the European People’s Party (EPP), an ally of the far right, wants to put him out. On the other, Pascal Canfin, the Macronist president of the environment committee of the European Parliament, behind which the Greens, the social democrats and some of his political friends, the liberals of Renew, have lined up, is struggling to save it.
Thursday, June 15, the environment committee did not adopt the amendment rejecting the bill, but it came close. Forty-four MEPs voted for, forty-four against! It was decided by one vote (it needed an absolute majority for it to pass). After this vote, they continued examining the text, article by article. The discussions will continue on June 27, then, in plenary, in July.
Threat of “political reprisals”
“All the pages of this text have been amended taking into account the concerns of the EPP”, assures the elected Dutch socialist Mohammed Chahim. This is largely insufficient, responds the other camp. “In the general context of massive inflation, global food insecurity and energy crisis, this proposal will only increase the dependence of the European continent on imports”Judge Anne Sander, MEP LR.
The fight has only just begun. And by July, and the vote in the hemicycle, there is no doubt that the various stakeholders will continue to scrap to impose their point of view. Manfred Weber is in charge. He “threatened his EPP colleagues who sit on the environment committee with political reprisals, including the exclusion of the EPP, if they voted in favor of the nature restoration law on Thursday! », says Pascal Canfin. What the main interested party denies.
Still, on Thursday, during the vote in the environment committee, at least four EPP members of the enclosure, favorable to the law on the restoration of nature, were replaced by colleagues who were not. Including the Czech Stanislav Polcak, who said on Twitter: “I imagine that I will be able to vote according to my conscience in plenary. »
You have 64.65% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.